Finding the Middle Ground
by razed1
Summary: A/U Regular wizard Harry Potter with no added titles of boy-who-lived and an older Half-Veela, Draco Malfoy, work together at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, battling not only against dark wizards but also corrupt officials in the Ministry. Warning:language and slash.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: THE BOOK BELONGS TO J. I HAVE ONLY BORROWED BOTH CHARACTERS AND PLOTLINE.**

**CHAPTER 1**

Harry Potter stood in front of the underground toilet in Whitehall and pocketed the standard gold coin that was required of all Ministry personnel to be able to unlock the stall doors. Today was his first official day as an Auror and so far the only emotion he had been able to sum up was one of mild nausea.

Closing his eyes behind his glasses and clutching his new messenger bag tightly to his chest, he stepped into the clean white porcelain bowl and pressed the 'to flush' lever down with all his might. A magical vortex immediately opened up beneath his feet and he felt an uncomfortable squeezing pressure as he was suddenly sucked into it. Before he could fully register what was happening to him he blinked and found himself standing in the British Ministry of Magic.

Stepping into the impressive Atrium, he suddenly found himself becoming engulfed in a sea of uniform black robed wizards and witches as they all hurried towards their various offices to begin the day's work. Standing in front of the golden Fountain of Magical Brethren Harry waited for the next service elevator to come in when he heard someone calling his name from somewhere behind him.

Turning around he spotted a familiar face waving at him furiously from amongst the crowd of people and was trying to remember his name when the man himself came to stand in front of Harry disheveled and red faced.

"If it isn't Harry Potter!" he said happily, sounding slightly out of breath. "I see you've made the cut too, not that that's very surprising or anything."

"Um…" Harry looked at him feeling a bit cornered, '_I need to say something, or he's going to start thinking that I 'm some kind of moron, but dammit! I can't remember his fucking name!_' he thought fiddling with his bag straps.

"I'm Roland, Roland Abberley from training camp, remember? The bloke who was stuck in the infirmary same as you, for a week?"

"Oh right! Not my finest hour then" Harry said with a touch of embarrassment, when it all came crashing back to him. It had been one of those really bad days when nothing was going right and he'd just snapped and attacked three guys for insinuating that he'd been accepted into the Ministry only because of his father.

"What're you talking about mate? Everyone was really impressed when took on those three bastards and trounced their asses so easily."

Harry flushed from the shame of being praised for something he'd tried to forget and instead mumbled "Flint was an idiot" rather guiltily.

"Yeah Marcus Flint and his cronies had it coming to them I guess, after you'd been transferred to the 'Concealment and Disguise' section no one took anymore flak from those nutters again" Roland said looking mighty pleased with himself.

"The um…lift's here" Harry pointed gratefully to it for its timely arrival, deliberately ignoring the man in front of him as he briskly made his escape with his new colleague in hot pursuit.

Swatting away the pesky paper planes that came in with them, Harry pressed the button for the level two 'Department for Magical Law Enforcement' and clutched the wall when the elevator jerked underneath his feet and swung sideways almost throwing him off balance.

"So you ready to meet the squad then?" Roland asked him from his corner of the box looking slightly green from all the moving and shaking.

"Not really" Harry said loosening his tie unconsciously.

On reaching their destination, they quickly made their way over to the end of the corridor after passing several offices in between and stopped in front of a huge door bearing a small insignificant board with the letters 'Auror Department' deeply etched on it.

Swallowing hard, Roland opened the door wide and gestured for Harry to go in "Ladies first" he said with an uneasy smirk, earning a grimace from Harry who '_accidently_' stepped on his toes rather brutally when he walked past him.

The room they'd entered was nothing special with several cubicles occupying its space but it was the stuff on the walls that attracted Harry's attention as he stood gaping at wanted posters, maps with spidery lines on its surface and several blackboards on which chalk pieces were magically scrawling notices on their own.

Suddenly one of the Aurors stood up from behind one of the cubicles and let his chair fall to the floor with a bang as he clutched a struggling paper plane in his fist "Fuck!" he said to no one in particular "That dickwad Anderson really has it in for me doesn't he? He's finally gone and issued an appeal to the bloody Wizengamot of all things" he sputtered in rage.

"Pipe down Dawlish, you're scaring the newbies" another man drawled while peering over his cabin wall at Harry and Roland. "And as for Anderson, well you practically annihilated the poor blokes store during your duel with Cauldwell, so the man does make a valid point."

"Bu…but it was either that or him dying!" Dawlish griped not backing down an inch.

"Then that's what you'll have to tell the council members" the other man said tiring of the conversation walking over to the new recruits.

"I'm Oliver Williamson" the self-assured Auror said extending his hand out to them.

"Follow me and I'll take you to the antechamber where the other greens like yourselves are waiting" he said, and lead them to another door behind the cubicles that opened up into a corridor. Walking down the passage they felt properly cowed by distinct aura of power emanating from the walls which were lined by ostentatious red carpeting muting all the noise coming from outside.

Several doors on either side of the corridor bore illustrious names of all the senior personnel, which they repeated to each other in awe, dreaming that one day they would become legends just like them.

"Beyond this door is the conference room" Williamson said stopping in front a nameless door, "I think our chief is in the middle of a meeting with the rest of the senior staff right now, but you guys can wait in the room next to it."

Nodding gratefully, they thanked him and went to room he had pointed out to them and saw three other people waiting inside it looking just as anxious as they did. One of the men had been about to introduce himself when they suddenly heard a growl y voice from behind the conference room door calling them in.

Taking a deep breath, Harry followed the voice and saw an elegant room with dark wooden paneling and a beautiful, glossy oval table taking up presidence in the center. They recognized most of the senior Aurors sitting around it, looking at them in curiosity, from newspaper articles and wondered if they'd ever measure up to their greatness.

Harry spotted his father's and Sirius's excited faces from amongst them and had to actually bite his lip to suppress the urge of smiling at them.

"Welcome to our department" one of the men said and Harry recognized him as the Head Auror. Observing him keenly he noted with surprise that the man actually looked uncannily like a lion what with that giant mane of hair on his head and that stern unforgiving look on his face.

"I am Rufus Scrimgeour, Head Auror and the man who is now responsible for of you. Firstly I would like to congratulate you all for making it this far and I hope from now on you'll have no difficulties with settling in."

The newcomers relaxed at his words and for the first time that day they felt truly happy about their achievement.

"I already know who each one of you are but let's say for formality's sake that I'd like you to introduce yourselves to us anyway" the man said resting his large head on his interlocked hands as he placed his elbows on the table.

A tiny, pretty half Asian woman stepped up first and proudly said "I'm Sakara Akagi, twenty three years of age, from Cambridge shire" she looked around the table as if waiting for some acknowledgment and then stepped back into line when none was forthcoming.

"My name Scott Ancrum" a huge man over six feet tall standing beside Sakara said next, "I'm twenty three years as well and I'm originally a Welshman." Studying him from the corner of his eyes, Harry noted with amusement that the man's almost boyish face was totally incongruous with the rest of his muscle bound body.

About to rejoin his group, Rufus stopped him and pointed at the faint 5o'clock shadow on his face "Tomorrow onwards, I want you clean shaven and presentable since I do not like seeing slobs in my department, this goes for all of you" he warned each one them, pinning their bodies with his heavy eyes.

Scott blushed from embarrassment and looked as if he wanted to disappear from sight; a feat Harry thought would never be possible for so large a man. The next bloke with short cropped hair came forward smartly and in a loud booming voice, startling them all out of their complacency said "Reporting for duty Sir! Daniel Aldermaston, twenty three years of age, from Oxford-shire Sir!"

Rufus covered his mouth in a poor attempt to hide his smile at the man's exuberance and just barely managed a nod wondering if he would be the same at the end of a year or if the workload would have snuffed out all the enthusiasm the man had displayed today.

Harry realizing that he was the next person came forward and said "I'm Harry Potter, twenty two years of age, from London." '_But not anymore_' he thought to himself, not ready to reveal that bit of information to them just yet.

Scrimgeour looked at the young, five foot eleven inch man in front of him and recognized the similarities between James and himself easily. The only differences were that Harry had better defined features and his eyes were the same beautiful emerald color of his mother's, a difference he thought that made him look even more handsome than his father.

As the youngest wizard amongst his recruits, Harry he'd learnt had earned quite a reputation for himself during training in fact one of his officers had even gone so far as to say that the boy could well be a genius in this line of work.

Now looking at the intriguing man in front of him, he wondered if those words would prove prophetic one day or if it had just been a matter of circumstances or a fluke that had made him seem so special.

The last man Roland Abberley stepped forward and he greeted all of them in his pleasant voice saying "I'm Roland Abberley, twenty three year old and from London like Mr. Potter himself here."

"Good" the Head Auror said, now that that was over "We're going to now pair you guys off with a senior staff member as we've always done in the past. This is only for a period of one year so that you can learn everything you need to learn about the work from someone with more experience than yourselves."

"Sakara Akagi" he called out "You'll be working with Mr. Frank Longbottom here" he said pointing at a genial looking Auror beside him.

"Next, Scott Ancrum, you'll have Sirius Black and Daniel Aldermaston you'll have James Potter as your Mentors."

"Kingsley" he said smiling at a charismatic looking man beside him, who was also the assistant Head Auror, "You will have Roland Abberley as your apprentice, if that's alright with you?"

Kinsgley nodded and smiled at Roland who gave him a tiny salute in answer.

"I'm afraid, Mr. Potter, that the man that we chose for you is not here with us today as he's taken a few days of well-deserved leave. He will be here tomorrow however, so you will be able meet him in my office at say nine-ish in the morning?"

Harry nodded his head and raked his mind over who would become his Mentor and guide for a yearlong hoping that it was someone whom he could at least learn to tolerate.

* * *

"Psst Harry?"

Harry turned his head in search of the owner's voice only to find his dad peeking out of the door that led to his office.

"A word with you Mr. Potter" James said haughtily while straightening up and looking every bit his superior.

Harry let out a huff and rolled his eyes, '_Really_' he thought smiling '_the man can be such a drama queen!_'

As soon as he entered his father's office, he found himself being pulled into a tight bear hug and had to wriggle out of his grasp when he started to feel a shortage of air supply.

"Dad let go!" he ordered his sappy father "You promised mum and me that there would be no public displays of affection during work!"

"But I was so happy and proud to see you standing with the other Aurors" James pouted like a five year old "Your old man just wanted to congratulate you and you're being so mean to him!"

"I…I'm not being mean!" Harry said in outrage.

"That my son is a matter of opinion" James sniffed, finding the look of anger so cute on him that he gave into his impulse and pinched his cheek, a gesture that he'd been doing since Harry was a child.

"Do you remember our dinner reservations for tonight in celebration your new job?" James asked Harry chuckling when he saw him rub his face frantically.

"Of course I do! I like having my head attached to my body!" Harry retorted, shuddering at what his mother would do to him if he canceled on them.

"Yes, your mum can be quite scary about these family things" James guessed his thoughts with a mock shiver, "Anyway do you want to join me and Sirius for lunch at the cafeteria today?"

"No, not today" Harry said apologetically "I've already promised Hermione that I'd go and collect her blood reports and prescriptions from St Mungo's today. Maybe I'll even go and buy mum some flowers while I'm at the hospital since they have really a nice florist next door."

James nodded and patted his back in approval, giving him a last hug before Harry bolted out of the door muttering a string of curse words.

* * *

"So how was work today?" Lily asked her son, looking like some ethereal fire goddess in the candlelight.

"Not bad" Harry mumbled as he stuffed his mouth with sinfully delicious steak "ih…wah kinna boh..in buh wh goh to tah to the o..her mem..hers."

Lily's face contorted with disgust and she wacked her insolent son on his head "Harry! This is decent a family restaurant and you are twenty two years for god sakes, surely you could manage to talk after you've swallowed?"

Harry grinned at her and took a sip of his wine. They had come to a muggle restaurant for dinner that night which was actually a sort tradition for their family. The one muggle constant that his mother liked to keep in her life, not that the other's minded, since the food was so divine.

"Sorry, it was kind of boring but we got to talk to the other members, is what I said."

James kicked him under the table and they shared a silent laugh as Lily started smiling again.

"Now all you have to do is move back to the city and everything will be great" she said quickly looking at her son with shifty eyes.

"Mum, you know that that's not going to happen. I love my house at Watergate. I love that it's so far away from the city and so close to the beach."

"But you're so isolated from the rest of us, what if something happens and we can't help you?"

"Mum please let's not do this again?" Harry sighed when he saw that stubborn glint in her eye.

"Very well, but what about finding a man and settling down at least? Surely now that you're finished with training you can start dating right?"

"Maybe" Harry said evasively throwing down the entire contents of his wine glass down his throat feeling the familiar rise in temper.

"Lily let it go" James said quietly, trying to assuage the situation.

When Harry had told his parents about his preference at the age of sixteen, they had taken the news quite well without much fuss and continued loving him just the same as they always had.

But off late his mother had been feeling insecure about his living alone so far away from them that she'd been constantly nagging him to find someone and Harry just hadn't been interested. Sure he'd snogged other boys and ogled at them but he'd never been in a real relationship. There just hadn't been enough time or motivation for it.

Seeing his mum looking so worried now, Harry felt a pang of guilt and slid his chair next to her putting an arm around her shoulders "I'll find someone when the time is right mum" he said softly "Look at you and dad, you guys hated each other's guts when you'd first met and now you're happily married. These things take time to happen and I'd rather it come naturally than be something that I've forced."

Lily sniffed and said "Well…you are only twenty two."

"Yes" Harry said relieved "Only twenty two with a lifetime ahead of me."

"Okay…but you'll come visit us often?"

"So often you'll want to throw me out."

"That would never happen" Lily said decidedly looking up at him adoringly as Harry laughed and tugged on her red hair playfully.

'_Aaand disaster has been averted once again_' James thanked the gods and smiled at his family digging into a large portion of melty lemon pie contentedly.


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: THE BOOK BELONGS TO J. I HAVE ONLY BORROWED BOTH CHARACTERS AND PLOTLINE.**

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO**

Harry had moved into his family's summer cottage in New-quay, Watergate bay about a year ago. It was a place that they hadn't been to for many years now, since his mother was so busy being a consultant healer and his father an Auror.

But he'd always loved the tang of the ocean, the soft sand and the warm climate of the place and had decided a long time ago while he was still in Hogwarts in fact that he'd take it for his own, especially since he'd had enough of the cold weather in Scotland to last him a lifetime.

Over time, he'd picked up the habit of waking up with the rising sun and going for a long jogs on the beach that helped him empty all thoughts from his head except the simple appreciation of just being there. Today unfortunately, he'd had to skip it because he was already running late, since he'd forgotten to set the alarm last night. Having come back home at a very late hour after dinner yesterday, he had crashed on his bed and had fallen asleep immediately. And now he was having to pay the price by rushing through the motions of getting ready for work.

'_Fuck, I have to drop off Mione's potions as well_' he remembered while frantically pulling on a sock. His best friend who was on a maternity leave from work at the Wizengamot, had been struggling with nausea and vomiting for a week before she'd finally given up and gone to his mother for advice.

Ron, who had married her when they were twenty, had been incapacitated by a sudden accident in the Weasley joke shop three week ago and had had to transfer all the running around work to Harry until he recovered.

After putting up all the wards around his home, Harry quickly disapparated and unknowingly began what was going to end up as a very trying day.

* * *

Making a mad dash across the road to the underground bathrooms on Whitehall, Harry failed to look for oncoming traffic and nearly felt his soul leave his body when there was a sudden loud screeching sound of tires and metal on the road.

Turning his head in slow motion, he saw a man sitting on a stunning red sports bike not two feet away from himself, trying desperately to stay upright. Moving like an automaton, Harry ran to him and helped him steady the vehicle still feeling surreal.

"You fucking bastard" the rider shouted making Harry jump, "did you not see the fucking red light? You could have gotten us both killed" he hissed angrily and lifted the visor of his helmet revealing a set of the most astonishingly beautiful grey eyes Harry had only ever known one man to possess.

'_But this can't be him_' Harry though shaking himself mentally, '_this man is a muggle and he…Crap! He must really be losing it if he was thinking about idiotic stuff like that in middle of this messy situation!'_

"I…I'm so sorry" Harry mumbled once the man had regained his composure "I was late for work so I…"

The man was busily bending over his bike and checking for any sign of damage, outrageously ignoring him. Finally looking satisfied that nothing was wrong he stood up straight and glared at Harry with obvious contempt.

"I will pay for the damages" Harry said in a small voice "And if you need to go to the hospital I could…"

"Just go alright" the man ground out, dropping his visor down and hiding him-self from view once again. "Everything seems to be fine with the bike and me so you can just leave. Just make sure that you watch where you're going the next time" he added harshly and got on the muggle contraption, driving away before Harry could say anything else.

* * *

'_I'm alive_' Harry thought to him-self while walking towards Rufus Scrimgeour's office for his appointment with him, _'and so is that muggle man_' he consoled himself. '_Plus, I'll probably never see him again so I can just go ahead and forget about it._'

Feeling better, he knocked on the Head Auror's door and went inside hoping nothing would go wrong after this. "Ah! Harry" the man said smiling at him "Your mentor should be here in another minute" he said and gestured towards the chair opposite him. "Actually I've been meaning to ask you about the extra course you took up during your training, with the Hit wizards."

"Um…they were just a couple of classes Sir" Harry said feeling uncomfortable now.

"Yes but it might actually prove to be useful for us since we're always at odds with them."

"I…" Harry was just about to tell him that he hadn't learnt so much about them but was abruptly cut off by a sudden loud knock on the door.

"Must be him" Rufus turned to Harry with a knowing look before saying "Come in."

Harry's jaw nearly hit the floor and he felt a hot flush consume his body turning his head to mush when he saw the Adonis look-a-like step through the door. No, no, no! His mentor could not be Draco fucking Malfoy himself!

"Harry this is your mentor, Mr. Draco Lucius Malfoy" Rufus said promptly and Harry seriously considered jumping out the fake window behind him.

"Oh my god it's you isn't it!" He suddenly heard Malfoy snarl and saw him raise an accusatory finger at his nose, proceeding without haste to drop a massive bombshell on Harry. "I thought you looked familiar in the morning when you nearly got us killed" he said "You're Potter's son aren't you?"

Harry wanted to die. Surely becoming an Auror was not that important to him he reasoned, feeling distant and removed from everyone in the room.

'_Fuck, Fuck Fuck!' Of all the people why did it have to be Malfoy?' _he thought despondently _'I thought it was a bleeding muggle.'_

This information couldn't have been worse for Harry because not only was Malfoy his senior by three years in school, but he was also the man on whom he'd harbored a huge celebrity-like crush for the longest time. But maybe that couldn't be helped no matter how much he had fought it, since the man was a _**Half-Veela**_ and Harry had only been one person amongst many who'd felt the same way about him.

'_And now he probably thinks that I'm some kind of a menace to mankind on roads and he'll tell everyone that James Potter has an imbecile for a son!" _

"Rufus" Draco was saying to the head Auror who was looking at them with a bemused sort of expression on his face, "I've already told you that I didn't want an apprentice and now you gone and lumped me with the stupidest one of the lot" he groused at his chief.

Harry turned an ugly shade of red and looked carefully down at his shiny black shoes as if they were the most important things in the world just then.

"Malfoy, we've been over this" Rufus patiently explained "If you don't do this, you'll either be demoted or removed off the squad. Don't give the council members more ammunition against you" he warned him gently "they've already been searching for reasons to have you thrown out. Don't you remember what happened when you were made a senior? I literally had to threaten them to agree."

"But…"

"You just thought that you could use Harry's mistake as excuse for me to let you out of this didn't you? But that's not possible son, since this is a mandatory part of your job, so perish the thought already!"

"Fine!" Draco huffed like a petulant child and Harry was sure that if he'd been a proper Veela, his wings would have appeared to be very ruffled just then.

"Oh and by the way I've just received a letter from Oblansk's secretary" Rufus said waving a thick piece of parchment at Draco,

"The Bulgarian Minister?"

"Yes," his chief nodded in confirmation "said, you'd handled the situation over there with diplomacy and tact and that their Head Auror was happy working with you."

"Of course!" Draco smirked, "I was the one who took down Karkaroff when he was attempting that mass attack and saved nearly fifty lives by doing it!"

"That's all very nice Malfoy" Rufus said sounding like an indulgent grandfather "but I wish you'd also give up this absurd penchant for muggle vehicles and start apparating like a normal wizard."

"But I'm not, normal that is" Draco wiggled his eyebrows at him with a wicked grin on his face that left Harry weak kneed despite his sad situation, "And where's the fun in apparating?"

"But you said that you were nearly killed today!"

"Yes, that's because of '_Mister I can't cross a road without holding someone's fucking hand_' Potter, here" he said jerking his thumb at Harry.

"You're never going to forgive him for that are you?" Rufus sighed.

"Nope" Draco turned towards the door and headed out saying, "Oh and Mr. Potter I want you in my office, now!"

"Yeah right" Harry though, head deeply and firmly entrenched in the gutter-of-no-return. He was so screwed!

* * *

Looking around Draco's office, Harry found it as spacious as his father's and despite his current feelings of resentment towards the man's utter lack of faith in him, he couldn't help but be impressed by the youngest Senior Auror in their department.

"Stop gaping and take these" Draco ordered, prodding a high pile of parchment on his table towards him. "These are all the reports that you'll have to make a neat entry of, in the official Ministry register and you'll have to do it by the evening at best since the Archive section where you'll have to hand to, closes by then."

Looking at amount of paperwork he'd been given, Harry felt a tiny bit of panic rise within him. No way in hell was he going to be able to finish this much work in the stipulated time. Now he was going to labeled imbecilic and incompetent!

Collecting the parchment wordlessly, Harry was about to head towards his allotted cubicle in the front office when Draco rapped on the surface of his table smartly "And where do you think you're going?" he asked him smiling grimly. "You'll have to do the work from here" he said, "that information is too sensitive for you to be bandying it around."

Summoning the smallest table that he possibly could find and placing it in a small dark corner of his office, Draco smirked maliciously at him and waved him towards it rather callously "Chop chop," he clapped his hands and began doing the crossword puzzles on the Daily Prophet leisurely, while Harry simmered.

By lunch time, Harry's panic had escalated to a feverous pitch and his hands began shaking from all the writing, '_I could resign and work at Hannah's bar_' he though, removing another spelling error, _'He's going to overwork me till I die if I don't do something soon!' _

Having made the decision to skip lunch, Harry nearly cried when Draco came back into his office laden with a bouquet of flowers and smelling of roast chicken and apple juice. "From my ardent fans" the infuriating half-veela said banishing the bouquet like it meant nothing to him, 'said that they's missed having me around.'

'_I will not snort, I will not snort_' Harry thought and pinched his nose '_Good at least the crush has ended_' he sighed in triumph, when Draco suddenly ruffled his stunning silky blond hair unconsciously and Harry found himself unwittingly swallowing, 'o_r at least it's somewhat lessened_' he thought in despair.

He worked like a crazy person, battling alternate feelings of lust and hate and by some miracle managed to finish his work just before closing time when he realized that he was the last person left in the office.

Handing over the completed work to a rather irate elf at the Archive section, Harry decided that he sorely needed a drink and disapparated to The Leaky Cauldron.

* * *

Hannah Abbott was the current owner of the bar (having bought it from Tom two years ago) with her husband Neville Longbottom, who was working at Hogwarts as a Herbology professor. The two of them were some of Harry's greatest friends and he just loved the comfortable atmosphere that he felt around them, _'Something that I really need now' _he though gulping down a glass of Firewhiskey like it was water.

After managing to eat his way through an entire Shepard's pie and drinking a bottle of butterbeer, Harry feeling the need to crib to someone ended up in Hermione's and Ron's house where they had a spare room that he used when he stayed over.

* * *

Hermione came in to the living room carrying a hot pot of tea despite Harry's vehement protests, looking very pregnant yet happy to see him. "God I thought I was going to go stir crazy from lonliness" she said, sitting down heavily next to her slumped, defeated friend.

"Ron's burns are taking forever to heal and he's been acting like a bloody git all day" she sighed and leaned back "He just went sleep about an hour ago."

"So how's the pregnancy thing going" Harry asked her tentatively, knowing that it was a very touchy subject for her right then. "Did the medicines that I gave you in the morning help?"

"Oh yes! Thank Lily for me please." She said with a grateful look "I'm honestly starting to feel like a giant sized Erumpet, it's like I'm going to pregnant forever."

Harry patted her on her shoulder awkwardly and smiled sympathetically, "Couple more weeks and you'll be done" he reminded her "And if you need anything I'll always be there to help."

"Thank you" she sniffled with suspiciously red eyes. "And don't say things like with my hormones all free and unfettered. You'll have one big weepy friend for the whole of next year" she warned him carefully cuddling up to his warm body.

"So why are you here anyway, what happened?"

"So obvious that something happened huh?"

"Pretty much."

"Do You remember Draco the half-veela Malfoy from school?"

"Mmm...who can forget him" Hermione giggled uncharacteristically.

"Then you probably know that he works for the Ministry as an Auror don't you? Being on the council member and all that."

"Yeah?" She said frowing, and then looked at him like something had clicked inside her head, "Oh! Did something happen to you at work?"

"Yep, Malfoy has been made my mentor for another year" he said feeling the urge to laugh or cry hysterically.

"You're such a lucky bastard" she wacked him on his shoulder in mock jealousy "why on earth are you being sad about it?"

Harry explained the whole situation to her and she stayed silent for whole minute after that, just digesting the information slowly before she looked at Harry with a scrunched up mouth and then promptly burst into raucous laughter.

'_Some friends I have_' Harry though morosely, as he watched Hermione clutch her sides with unbidden mirth, tears streamed down her face _'Avada Kedavra me someone, please?'_


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: THE BOOK BELONGS TO J. I HAVE ONLY BORROWED BOTH CHARACTERS AND PLOTLINE.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 3**

Harry was sitting stiffly next to his overly prominent mentor in the massive courtroom built like an amphitheater and was studiously trying to ignore him. The room around them was now completely occupied by every single member from the various departments of the law enforcement and the anticipation in the air was palpable.

Unfortunately for him though, it seemed as if nearly half the female population and quite a few of the males in the crowd couldn't keep their eyes off the blond god beside him and they kept sneaking looks in their general direction every minute or so making Harry squirm uncomfortably.

'_Why the hell did he insist that I sit next to him?' _He grumbled to himself trying to appear nonchalant.

He had woken up this morning, cockily believing that he would be able to resist all of Malfoy's charms if he only tried and put in a little effort into it. But from the moment that he'd walked into the office ready to report for duty, brimming with purpose, his resolve had crumbled like a pack of cards! Why on earth did the bastard have to go around the place smelling like sunshine and freshly cut grass! Bloody unfair was what it was!

"Order, order" Pius Thicknesse and their current Minister of Magic called out pulling Harry out of his inner chaos, rapping a wooden mallet on the table in front of him, "As you already know, today you have all been called to witness the trial for one Mr. Angus Campbell, accused for attempted murder on my person not one month ago."

The silence was deafening after the announcement and everyone waited with bated breath as the jailer dragged in the accused man.

"A bit anticlimactic isn't it?" Draco suddenly said out of the side of his mouth, looking keenly at the scrawny, dirty and frightened man at the center of the stage.

Harry looked at Malfoy in surprise at being spoken to out of the blue and was startled to see a hint of compassion in his eyes. "The man was a healer, believe it or not" Draco continued whispering as Pius listed out the man's misdemeanors in the background, "he has a wife and a son back home and according to the reports, he was a perfectly man happy until exactly one month ago. Why then did a man who had everything to lose, suddenly try and carry out a half-baked assassination he had no hope of ever walking away from?"

Harry knew the question was rhetorical and that he wasn't really expected to answer it but looking at the prisoner, he couldn't help but agreed with Malfoy; there was no way that that man down there was a killer.

The case proceeded haltingly as several old, stuffy members of the Wizengamot took turns in questioning the man until the little hope that he had come with, faded away and he now sat quietly and resignedly on the chair provided to him.

In the end, too tired to fight, the man broke down with racking sobs and pleaded guilty of all charges in despair while from somewhere below them in the crowd they heard a woman wail in grief as they led him away looking completely shattered.

They had sentenced him to fifteen years in Azkaban.

"He won't survive it" Draco said disgustedly, "they didn't even bother using Veritaserum to confirm the truth. They so obviously coerced the man into accepting the crime and didn't even seem interested in his reasons, the fucking bastards!"

Several people around Draco nodded in assent when they heard him but it looked as if no one was actually going to say anything.

"Um…Sir isn't it mandatory for them to use the truth potion?" Harry asked Draco curiously, willing to risk his wrath in that moment.

"Only in theory Potter" Draco spoke as they walked out of the room with the others. "The Wizengamot however has complete autonomy to use any method they deem appropriate to interrogate criminals. One could say that they've been given the power to subtly orchestrate the outcome of each case and it's become so much worse since Pius became Minister" he said grimly but only for Harry's ears.

"Dad says the same things at home" Harry agreed, remembering the look of frustration in his father's face when he'd come home one day cursing Pius for carrying out another surprise raid in their office, the third time in that month alone.

Draco nodded but kept walking "Most of the Auror's feel that way" he said. "The man's been prying into our work too much these days and not only is it demeaning, it's frankly become a nuisance for us to have to report every single little detail to him."

They had just entered the office when a purple colored paper plane came zooming towards Draco and crashed into his temple before falling to the floor. Picking up the missive curiously, Draco opened it and started smiling when he read it.

"Come with me Potter" he said and gave Harry no further explanations to what was happening before walking briskly towards Rufus's office.

"Come in" they heard the Head Auror's voice and Draco flung the door open beaming when his eyes lit upon the weary but composed man sitting opposite Scrimgeour.

"Lupin!" He exclaimed walking up to him and shaking his hand. "You look like a dead man walking" he greeted him cheerfully, "what on earth happened to you?"

"Malfoy," Lupin returned his smile, "It's good to see you being so wonderfully tactful as always" he winked and then spotted Harry behind him. "Harry! I heard from Nymphadora that you've just been made an Auror? How do you like the work?" The undercover spy of the Auror Department asked him with a knowing smirk.

Harry still feeling the aftermath of the painful cramp in his hands from all the report writing yesterday, nodded politely and shrugged "It's alright" he said noncommittally, '_if being ruled under the thumb of a tyrant half-veela is what floats your boat' _he thoughtdarkly but managed to plaster an utterly fake smile on his face.

"So, how are Tonk's and Teddy?" He asked the werewolf changing the subject, thinking about the last time he'd spoken to the incredible woman who had looked like she was at death's door after her terrible delivery during which both mother and son had nearly died.

"Oh she's enjoying her year off thoroughly and Teddy's gone and inherited his mother's metamorhmagus abilities so it's been a lot of fun to just watch him change every two minutes."

"I'll bet" Harry sniggered deciding he'd have to make a call to their house soon.

"Hate to interrupt the conversation men" Rufus said "But Lupin, didn't you say that you had something important to discuss with Draco?"

"Oh right" Lupin remembered and turned to Draco who had been engrossed in listening to them "I've decided to pull out from the case; it's becoming too dangerous for me to continue hanging out with pack since the wolves are becoming uncontrollable. I think it's time you made your move."

"Good" Draco nodded "But did you get enough information?"

"Enough for us to move forward I think."

"Why don't you guys go ahead and iron out the details in your office?" Rufus asked them benignly looking at Draco "I've already heard most of it anyway so you can start working on it by yourselves but just keep me posted if there's any development."

"Will do chief" Draco said and ushered the other two outside the room hastily.

* * *

"Wait guys" Harry said holding up his hand "Before you go ahead and discuss whatever it is you need to discuss, I would greatly appreciate it if one of you told me what the heck is going on?"

"Shit, I'm sorry Harry" Lupin apologized immediately "I'd completely forgotten that you have no clue about the case."

"That's okay. But just give me the gist of it yeah?"

It was Draco who had grunted impatiently and started telling Harry about the case. "Three months ago we received a tip off from some anonymous bloke via a muggle payphone who told us that something weird was happening to the werewolves around the magical side of East End of London" he said exchanging a brief look with Lupin.

"At first we ignored it as a hoax but that's when the killings began."

"Killings?"

"Yeah, two children found dead in one the empty warehouses in the worst part of the district. Their bodies were completely covered with animal bites and their faces were disfigured beyond recognition" Draco shuddered from just remembering the ghastly sight. "When we carried out an autopsy on their bodies we found that the saliva in the wounds contained wolfsbane potion, but apparently not the normal kind. There was an added element of a strong hallucinogen mixed in its contents but we couldn't identify what it was since the sample was too little for us to be able to use."

"We started getting in reports from several spies that the wizarding black market had suddenly been flooded by a mysterious potent drug, which they all said sounded similar to the one that had been found on the children."

"It seemed that several werewolves who had been using it had started losing control over their wolves and were attacking people uninhibitedly. Aiming especially for the younger crowd. What was even more disconcerting was that several normal wizards had started showing up dead in dark alleys with signs of having consumed that foul substance. A sign that the drug was becoming more easily available" Draco frowned clearly displeased about the situation.

"And that's when I decided to go undercover and figure out was happening and try to get more of the potion" Lupin cut in and tapped his wand on the table summoning a sleek black box on its surface.

"Is this it?" Draco asked him leaning over it eagerly.

"Yeah, but it's just one vial" Lupin said regretfully, opening the lid of the box and revealing a tiny crystal vial with some sort of liquid inside it. Uncorking the tube, they saw a thin film of purplish fumes rise from it.

"Wolfsbane is supposed to have blue fumes isn't it?" Draco asked him with a hint of confusion.

"Exactly" Lupin agreed "but this is the modified version of it whose content we haven't been able to ascertain as yet."

"What else did you find out?"

"The leader of the pack's name and a couple of the members names as well."

"So? Who is it then?" Draco asked him wondering what sick bastard had murdered those innocent children.

"Some bloke called Fenrir Greyback" Lupin said "I've not seen the man himself but I think that that was what his followers called him."

Draco turned pale with shock and gripped his chair tightly but didn't say anything and Harry was pretty sure that he had been about to blurt out something but had held himself in check at the last moment.

"Wha…what about the other members of the pack then?" Draco asked him after a moment's silence, "What can you tell me about them?"

Lupin promptly pulled out a dirty piece of parchment from within the folds of his robes and placed it on the table next to the box. "This is a list of a few of the members but I don't really know how big a part any of them play in this operation. What I do know however is that they definitely have their headquarters in the magical side of East London but I couldn't tell you where exactly since they hadn't been willing to trust a relatively new member with such information. In fact they had me guarded at all time within the pack premises so much so escaping had been really difficult."

"East London huh?" Draco sighed "Getting around that place is going to be really hard. Is there anything else we can work with?"

"Actually there might be" Lupin smirked now and sat back leaning against his chair looking very pleased with himself "It just so happens that I just found out the location of the hunting grounds of two of the pack's members" he said gleefully.

"Wolves you see are creatures of habit" he informed them "They prefer hunting for their prey in areas that they've already scouted before. Kevin and Karl Broadmoor, twins of the pack, are two such wolves whose hunting ground location was revealed to me by accident only last week. If you manage to catch them during the next full moon we could put a tracer on them and follow them to the headquarters."

Looking excited Draco nodded and whipped out a huge map from somewhere on his desk. "Where is it then?"

"Eppings Forest" Lupin pointed it out for them.

"What!" Draco slumped back dejectedly "That place is over 6000 acres! How are we ever going to track them down? We don't have that kind of manpower at our disposal and using magic would just alert them to us since werewolves are so sensitive to it."

"Actually we can do it" Harry said quietly and tapped the part on the map which had Epping's Forest on it with his wand, enlarging it magically. "All we have to do is narrow down our search to the areas where there are housing facilities and then rule out all the retirement homes and instead concentrate on the ones with children in it since we already know that the wolves prefer them."

Draco blinked once and leaned over the table's surface once again, this time to ruffle his hair happily. Harry nearly jumped out of his skin at the flurry of unwanted emotions that the simple contact had evoked and instead hid his insecurity under a mask of rage. "Do—don't do that" he sputtered smoothing down his already unruly hair and pushing up his glasses "I'm not a fucking child!"

Draco looked at the fire in his green eyes and had to suppress a grin. '_James was right_' he concluded, remembering the besotted look on the boy's father's face when he had been gloating about his son during lunch in the cafeteria. '_God, but he's so cute when he gets angry_' he absently noted the flushed red appearance of his ears and almost smiled.

Not one to hold grudges, Draco had already forgiven Harry for the near bike accident sometime shortly after dumping all that work on him yesterday and had instead sat watching him conscientiously slave away in front of all those reports like the good little boy he'd been told that he was.

'S_tupid Veela temper!_' he thought ruefully, a tiny bit ashamed to admit the error in his quick judgment of the man when he'd seen him wringing his hands from exhaustion; but still it was just so much fun goading him into this state of frustration that he just let him continue believing that he, Draco, disliked him intensely when in all actuality he'd become sort of resigned to having the man around him for the next year.

'_Let him squirm for a bit longer_' Draco thought evilly, '_that'll teach Rufus to not give me an apprentice the next year when he goes crying to him_.'

Lupin laughed and stood up "I'll leave you guys to it then" he said, "If I remember anything else of importance I'll have you informed of it immediately."

Draco shook his hand respectfully since he genuinely liked the benign man and watched him leave after patting Harry on the shoulder.

"Right then. You ready to start off work?" He asked Harry who nodded, and then sat back down on his seat looking determined.

* * *

Review Please : )


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: THE BOOK BELONGS TO J. I HAVE ONLY BORROWED BOTH CHARACTERS AND PLOTLINE.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 4**

"First things first Potter, we need to find out the components of this bloody potion and then try to create an antidote of sorts that would nullify its effects" Draco picked up the black box containing the wolfsbane potion gingerly with his slender, long fingers and eyed it thoughtfully.

"We need to find a potions master for that, Sir" Harry reminded him while trying not to look at him caressing the box so lovingly. '_I'm going crazy; stark, raving mental as Ron would say. Maybe Mungo's will accept me for succumbing to Veela allure and going loony_' he thought desperately.

"Yes, and I know just the person who's up for the task" Draco grimaced, not at all looking excited about the prospect.

"Who Sir? If you don't mind me asking" Harry asked him curiously.

"Professor Severus Snape, potions master extraordinaire and my prat of a godfather" he revealed tucking the box into his robes.

"Also do me a favor while I make a Fire-call to Hogwarts and write out a request to the Archive section asking them to deliver the book on _Convicts and Criminals Who've Been Killed by the Department of Law_ to the office by the evening. There is something that I need to get clarified and I sincerely hope that Lupin is wrong about this or things are going to get real messy from here onward's" he said cryptically.

Harry cocked his head questioningly but let it go when Draco ignored him and went to the Floo Network Authority Department to make to make the call.

* * *

An hour later they were sitting in the shady confines of the Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmaede and drinking butterbeer out of dubious looking glasses, waiting for Hogwarts's most lovable curmudgeon, Severus Snape to arrive.

"Mr. Malfoy" the owner and barkeeper of the Inn, Mr. Aberforth Dumbledore, sat down beside him without any preamble and looked at him with his clear blue eyes. "I've heard about the werewolves that you're up against from Mundungus who was in Knockturn alley recently. He said that the potion they've created is so vile that even he could not imagine cashing in on it, even though he'd been offered a pile of money to sell it."

"Wait Ab," Draco said closing his eyes and frowning, wondering for the nth time just how vast this man's connections really were and how he'd known about the case so quickly, "Who tried to sell it to him?"

"He doesn't know, but he said that he was surprised to see that it was a respectable looking bloke who_ 'spoke real fine'_ as he put it."

"Can you describe him to me?"

"Can't really say much, but he did mention that the chap was very handsome. Tall, dark-haired, with an undercurrent of powerful magic, which set his bones practically vibrating."

"That's it? Nothing else?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Blast it! Getting hold of Fletcher the slimy bastard will take ages, but thanks anyway Ab" Draco said sipping his butterbeer pensively.

"Glad I could be of help" the second Dumbledore son said sincerely, "When I heard that they were going about killing little children, I just had to do something about it" the man said and turned to look at the portrait above his bar of Ariana Dumbledore his sister, who had died by the hands of Gellert Grindlewald the darkest wizard ever known to the wizarding world.

Draco patted the man's shoulder sympathetically while Harry looked away from the depth of the sadness in the bar-keepers eyes, feeling somehow encompassed by it.

Suddenly the door flew open and they saw Snape with his billowing black robes standing at the threshold wearing his famous scowl on his face. '_The man has to be using some kind of wind charm on his robes_' Harry thought not for the first time _'no one else's robes ever does that!'_

"Draco," he said sitting down on the chair that Aberforth had just vacated, pointedly ignoring Harry. "What's the problem then?" He asked him while gesturing for a glass of mead.

"Drinking during class hours is strictly prohibited uncle" Draco smirked, looking deliberately at the man with a single raised eyebrow as he thirstily swallowed his drink.

"Fuck that!" the man said churlishly, guzzling down another glass "It's my defense mechanism against stupid students that need to die painfully!"

"Always the ray of sunshine aren't you Sir" Draco laughed and pointed to Harry, "This is Harry Potter" he introduced him "A student of yours actually and now my apprentice."

Snape nodded but still refused to acknowledge him, looking steadily down at the contents of his glass instead.

"We know each other" Harry offered after an awkward pause "And he's never liked me for some reason" he said openly, smiling the memories of being yelled at on countless occasions by the man in front of him.

Snape grunted and finally looked at Harry with those dark unfathomable eyes of his, without even a hint of remorse in them. "Yes, well you were terrible at potions if I remember correctly" he said evasively while Harry grinned knowingly at him.

"Not the words my father used to explain it" he said trying not to smile when he saw the man turned pale with anger.

"James was an arrogant moron and you seemed to have imbibed his personality to a 'T'" Snape said coldly.

"Actually my father did tell me that he was a bit of an arse to you those days and that he regrets it even now, which is why I accepted your poor treatment of me, hoping that you'd feel somehow vindicated. My mother still sees you as her best friend you know? Before you became estranged from her and ran off to France to complete your masters at Potions."

"Is Lily well?" Snape asked him, quietly feeling a tiny bit impressed by his straightforward manner that was akin to his own.

"She's doing great, but if you visited her she'd see it as Christmas and her Birthday all rolled into one happy occasion!"

Snape looked away from him and turned to Draco instead "So what is it that you wished to see me for?"

Pulling out the box containing the vial, Draco told him about the potion but kept the other facts about the case to him-self, watching as his godfather's face went from mildly interested to ravenously hungry as he eyed the vial with fervor. _'Oh yes,_'Draco thought happily _'Give the man a challenge and he'll forget to eat.'_

"I'll see what I can do" Snape said pocketing the box trying to look supremely bored. "Oh and I've been meaning to ask you this for some time now Draco, have you been to the manor to see your parents recently?"

"Uncle, you know that father's still angry with me for becoming an Auror and that he hasn't yet forgiven me for taking a stance against him on the matter. If I went home now I'd just be thrown out again, you know how stubborn he is."

"What about Narcissa then? She still wishes to see you."

"I do meet her from time to time" Draco said looking a bit sad, "But at restaurants or in my apartment only so that father doesn't find out about our trysts."

"Stubborn fools the both of you" Snape chuckled while getting up.

"Not very different from you it seems" Draco smiled pleasantly at him "At least from what Potter here had to say."

Snape did an about turn and strode off not bothering to reply while muttering under his breath about smart alec nephews and their sharp tongues.

"So what next?" Harry asked his mentor shaking his head at potion masters retreating back.

"Well I'm hungry, but the food here might just send us to our early graves and I don't really want to take that kind of a risk." Draco said while Aberforth snorted loudly behind him at the insult to his Inn and said something that sounded suspiciously like 'Nancy Boy!'

"So you're saying we should go out for lunch?" Harry asked him just to clarify the doubt.

"Yes, to that steak house on Charing cross road."

"Huh…okay" Harry barely managed to say while maintaining a calm façade. His innards however protested by doing a frantic Congo dance. '_Wonder if I'll eat at all_' he thought and then shook his head violently. '_I'll eat! I'll eat two peoples share of food and enjoy it, goddamn it!_' He screamed to his wishy-washy self and disapparated to Angus's steak house.

* * *

Usually the steak house was jam packed with people as was the case today and the wait for a table could go on for about fifteen minutes. But a cute young waitress who took one look at Draco saw to it that they were seated at one of the most coveted places in the restaurant by the window in a matter of seconds.

"Smug bastard" Harry muttered while examining the menu sneaking a peek at Draco who was now conversing politely to the same waitress who looked like she'd died and gone to heaven.

The food came in record time and as they were eating, Harry asked Draco the one question that had been bugging him all morning "Why did you ask for that book from the Archive section? What was it that made you hope that Remus was wrong?"

Draco looked into those inquisitive eyes for a long moment and came to a decision, if Potter was going to be involved with the case than he had a right to know. "The Fenrir Greyback that I used to know was supposed to have died when I was nine years old" he said slowly "So the news that he's alive and an alpha of a pack came as somewhat of a shock to me."

Harry stared open mouthed at the man sitting opposite him and calmly eating his food like he hadn't just told Harry something totally absurd. "What are you saying? How on earth did you know Fenrir when you were a child?"

"He worked for my father as his bodyguard for nearly five years" Draco revealed, continuing to talk, completely undeterred by Harry's startled exclamation of 'Bloody hell!'

"Lucius knew that he was a werewolf when he'd hired him but he was inordinately proud of it rather than afraid. He used to flaunt him in front of all his chums like he was some sort of prized possession" Draco shuddered involuntarily, remembering the leering looks the man shot at him.

"I on the other hand always hated the bastard! There was this inexplicable stench of death around him that I just couldn't get out of my mind and when I told my father about it he just laughed and called me a child. So every time he'd turn away, Greyback would lick his lips and stare at me like was a gourmet meal cooked especially for him and I just had to put up with it."

Harry's grip on his steak knife increased imperceptibly and he wondered how any child who saw that kind of thing would not have nightmares.

Chewing on a french fry as if he couldn't be bothered, Draco concentrated on his meal but carried on talking and Harry admired him for it, knowing how difficult it must be to relive your worst memories.

"It was when I was nine years old and Fenrir's fifth year with my father that crazy rumors about a beast roaming our estates in the dead of night came to his notice. In the beginning Lucius ignored it and said it was just that, a rumor. But it was only when a child went missing from one of the families living on our estates, whose mangled remains turned up on our grounds the next week, did he sit up and finally take notice."

"He used his influence with Cornelius, the Minister at that time and managed to hire several hit wizards to patrol the grounds and even then he never suspected that it was Fenrir himself until they found a pattern in the killings. You see all of them took place at the time around the full moon, and that's when Lucius started to get suspicious of Greyback."

"One night, not long after that, the bastard probably getting anxious I suppose of being found out, attacked_ me_ in the supposedly safe confines of my own house! It was while I was playing in my room as I usually did before going to bed, when he snuck in past the wards on my door and entered it in a partially transformed state and stood over me saying sick things like 'I was beautiful', that 'he'd savor my flesh for a long time.' I felt so afraid that I couldn't even scream" Draco said unabashedly.

"Luckily, my mother who had come to see if I was asleep or not, saw what was happening and screamed bloody murder!"

"The hit wizards were there in a heartbeat and they caught the cretin and dragged him off the premises before anything could really register in our minds and the next day Arnold Peasegood the Head Hit wizard at that time told father that they'd killed the fucker and that it was over. And now nearly sixteen years later, Lupin tells me that he's alive and kicking and I just don't want to believe that."

'_I can't look at him'_ Harry thought, _'Oh my god, what do I say to such a story? Should…should I console him? No he'll fucking kill me! Cripes, but I want that wolf bastard good and dead!'_

"Um..so what are you going to do if it is him?" Harry asked him bravely.

"Dunno, guess we'll have to see when the time comes?"

Harry nodded and fell silent. '_Fuck! I could really fall for a man like him_' he thought, _'Not many people could come out of an incident like that and be so normal, he just spoke so matter- of- factly about it!'_

* * *

Back at the Ministry they found the book they'd requested for, lying on Draco's table and when they flipped it open to the names under the letter 'F' they saw it, Fenrir Greyback, deceased. It was signed and sealed by Arnold Peasegood himself.

"Then it's not him" Harry said relieved.

"Maybe, or maybe not" Draco said "But I've always trusted Lupin's information, so either someone fucked up his capture royally and let him escape, or someone's out there masquerading as him right now as we speak."

"Let me guess you think it's the former theory don't you?" Harry asked him when he saw Draco's face tighten with resolve.

"Yes" he said simply. "It's time we paid Arnold Peasegood a visit and extracted the truth out of him."

* * *

Please tell me what you think about the story so far, thank you : )

Thanks goes to LalalaSpacingInPandaLand ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER: THE BOOK BELONGS TO J. I HAVE ONLY BORROWED BOTH CHARACTERS AND PLOTLINE.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 5**

The next day found Harry sitting at his table once again (that had gotten suspiciously bigger) in Draco's office making notes on all the people in Lupin's list while his mentor sat fuming over the verbal exchange he had shared with Alastor Gumboil, the current Head Hit Wizard.

He had gone to him to learn as much as he could about the obstinate man's predecessor, Arnold Peasegoode, but had drawn a complete blank with him. Gumboil had remained irritatingly silent on his former colleague and had refused to divulge any information to a 'scumbag Auror.'

It the end, Draco found out that the man's house was unplottable anyway like Black's and was livid when he realized that the blasted Hit wizard had been merely pulling his leg all along!

The irritation did not end there however because when he went to the council members later on to get their seal of approval to investigate the man, while still fuming from the mornings episode, he hit another insurmountable road block. Peasegoode it turned out, was some kind of a celebrity in the bloody Wizengamot and he was now practically untouchable.

'If the wankers think for one moment that I'm giving up, then they must have inhaled too much doxy fumes' he growled striding towards his office and was suddenly struck by an ingenious idea on the way making him change his course and run to make make a fire-call instead.

Now back in his office, he found that he needed to vent out his frustrations of the day on someone else and spotted Harry's messy, black hair bent sedately over his work; good, he had found his scapegoat! Smiling devilishly to himself, he balled up four or five pieces of parchment and aiming them at the man he threw them gleefully at his target, smirking when they hit him square on the noggin.

Harry reared his head up like a vicious viper and stared at the culprit with enraged eyes. Then he coolly lifted his wand up and pointed it at his idiot boss saying '_Incarcerous_' while smiling smugly at him.

"Very kinky Potter" Draco congratulated him happily, now bound and defenseless in front of him. "So is this how you plan to take advantage of me then?"

"With all due respect _Sir_," Harry snarkily retorted, willing his imagination and traitorous libido into submission. "Bugger off and let a chap do his work in peace or you'll have to do this all by yourself" he threatened him and then realized a little too late in the game that this was his mentor he had just warned off and then waited docily to be reprimanded for his insolence.

Draco couldn't help but burst out laughing at the absurdity of the situation and instead chose to focus on his chafed wrists, "Ow! Ow! Ow! Untie me you fiend!" He said half rolling on the floor and Harry couldn't help but grin back at him in relief. Suddenly they both heard someone gasp loudly and turning around simultaneously they saw a small woman who looked unmistakably like a pug wearing a befuddled expression on her face. "Draco Lucius Malfoy! I always knew that you were a slut, but bondage games so early on in the day? I'm completely gob smacked!"

"But Pansy Darling" Draco huffed while smiling at her slyly from his precarious position on the ground, "It's my insatiable, new apprentice's fault" he faux whined, "the man simply won't let me go!"

"Oh, but he's a pretty one!" Pansy said grinning at him "Wherever did you find him?"

"There are two of you?" Harry asked Draco incredulously, "Really, should I be getting some back up as well?"

"Okay, okay, you win. I call uncle" Draco said looking positively decadent on the floor "Now let me up."

Harry pretended to think on it for a minute and finally nodded when he decided that the infuriating man had suffered enough ending the spell in the next instant. Getting up, Draco walked over to him with slow, measured steps while Harry swallowed becoming mesmerized until he found him standing in front of him adjusting the glasses on his face, nearly giving Harry a cardiac arrest from his proximity. "You're not that bad kid," he said and the fondness in his voice was unmistakable.

'_He…he thinks I'm okay'_ Harry whooped jubilantly, and heard violins and harps in the background before remembering that this was Draco Malfoy whom he was talking about and fell back to earth with a resounding crash. '_Die you weak-willed nincompoop_' he told himself severely and finally came back to his senses.

"Right" he heard Draco say, sitting back on the chair behind his table "Harry meet Pansy Parkinson my best friend and probably the biggest bitch you'll ever have the pleasure of meeting."

Pansy walloped the incorrigible bastard on his head and shook Harry's extended hand genially before turning to Draco once again. "Did you bring the stuff that I asked you to?" Draco questioned her eagerly as she pulled out a roll of parchment and a long envelope (that looked like it had a card of some sort in it) from her bag. "All the names of the guests with their profiles are in here, along with an invitation" she said "but at least tell me why the heck did you want it? Is it for a case?" she asked him excitedly.

"No no, I just felt a sudden craving to attend the lovely Ms Zabini's party tonight" Draco snorted sarcastically.

"Well I'm actually glad that you'll be there Draco darling, because frankly the woman is driving me up the wall and her stupid son, my erratic fiancé, who's job it is to act as a buffer between us, will be missing in action as well."

"Oh? And where's Zabini gone off to this time? That guy really knows how to live it up" Draco said admiringly.

"Well, he said he's going to Paris for an impromptu photo shoot and that he'll be coming back just two weeks before the wedding. Lucky me, his mother is so adept at arranging the blasted thing or I would have gone to straight to France and pulled him back by his hair."

"Cave-woman" Draco sniggered while Harry looked at her slightly alarmed.

"So will you be bringing a date tonight?" Pansy asked Draco forgetting her problems in the face of juicy gossip.

"Maybe, maybe not" Draco replied airily "It all depends on this one person" he said mysteriously, knowing that that would kill Pansy.

"Then why the fuck did you ask me to leave a dress at your apartment?" She demanded.

"Like I said it all depends on that person."

"You're a bloody liar aren't you" she grinned smugly at him "You haven't shagged anyone since Romilda Vane had you cuffed to her bed for three days straight scaring the crap out of you, have you?" she sniggered, not at all sounding very feminine just then. "Honestly, I never thought that I'd see the day when the great Mr. Draco Malfoy who could have had anyone in the world would end up choosing that…thing!"

"Hey you promised me that we would never talk about that day ever again" Draco growled "And can we not have this embarrassing discussion in front of my very scandalized pupil?"

"Oh he'll learn soon enough when you get over your current fears" she chuckled happily. "Mr. Potter" she said turning to him and grinning like a Cheshire cat, "your boss here, is a very promiscuous man, for whom even gender is of little to no importance. In fact I'll warn you now itself, to steer well away from him till he's found someone else to latch on to or you'll find yourself being seduced by one very determined Half-Veela" She said before wriggling her fingers at them and walking out the door with a 'Ta ta darlings.'

"That was…I'm sorry for…" Draco tried to apologize for the tiny little tornado that just swept across their room and destroyed it, but couldn't seem to get the words out.

"Let's not talk about it okay?" Harry said uncomfortably "Instead tell me what this invitation is for."

Draco started smiling again when he looked down at the roll of parchment on his table, "We're going to catch the elusive Mr. Peasegoode tonight at Ms Zabini's party, and extract all the information we can get out of him."

"But how were you so sure that he'd be there?"

"Please Potter" Draco scoffed "None of the men would ever miss an opportunity to go to one of that woman's parties. It's practically a tradition for the dirty bastards to be there."

"That's all good said and done, but how are we going to get the man to talk? The moment he sees you he'll probably clamp up real quick."

"And that's where the plan becomes really interesting" Draco said and for some reason looked at him like he was fish bait. He cautiously began explaining his devious plot to Harry and watched with fascination as his face slowly and progressively started to take on a really bright shade of red.

"The fuck I will!" Harry hollered, standing up in anger after he'd listened to whole crazy idea. "If you think…if think that I'm going to go dressed like a woman then you've gone balls-up crazy!"

"Harry but the plan is foolproof!" Draco cajoled him, using his name on purpose and turning on the Veela charm to devastating levels, "The man is known for his love of nubile women and since we don't have any at our disposal you'll just have to do! Come on be a sport and think about the investigation hmm? And don't say I should do it, because let me tell you, I'm nowhere even close to being nubile."

Harry tried his hardest to stamp out the image of Draco dressed as a woman from his mind and to stay focused on the more important issue at hand but he couldn't quite manage it and burst out laughing hysterically, shaking his head automatically in a poor attempt to say no.

"Please Harry?" Draco asked him from under those golden eyelashes and Harry knew then that he'd never really stood a chance from the beginning. _Bummer!_

'_I'm slowly beginning to feel like I live in a world that Luna Lovegood built especially for me_' he sighed and sat down heavily.

* * *

Malfoy stood patiently next to his gleaming red bike and lifted the seat to unearth a compartment that he'd magically enhanced to be able hold two helmets and threw one to Harry who caught it before it fell.

"Skeered Potter?" He asked him mockingly, putting on his headgear and gloves before sitting on the bike.

"I'm not new to this" Harry retorted still feeling miffed at the man and his hair-brained schemes, "I've probably been on these things much before you even knew they existed. My godfather, Sirius Black, also has one remember?"

Feeling a tiny bit disappointed that he couldn't rib him for much longer, Draco turned to the front and patted the seat behind him, "We'll go to my house and I'll keep studying the list of people on the list and try to familiarize myself with them, while you try to get ready okay?"

Harry bit his lip and nodded, there was no way that he could back out of this now. He'd fallen hook, line and sinker and all for one measly little 'Please' that had flung out all of his hang up's right out the blooming window!

Now moving closer to the vehicle, he was struck by a sudden rather scary epiphany; He was going to be sitting on a bike with Draco Fucking Malfoy and was probably was going to be plastered to his back during the entire length of the drive! Yep, fate was totally doing its thing and was just being a regular bitch as usual.

Sitting down almost gingerly behind him, Harry had just stuck his head into the helmet, when Draco turned around and said, "Hold on tight and don't around move too much. If you fall I'm going to kill you" he warned him and started up the engine as Harry swallowed.

Just when he placed his arms around Draco's waist, he felt an uncomfortable zing shoot up his spine and he frantically started a mantra of '_I am my body'_ in his head, saying it over and over again until he felt his mouth go dry.

Draco's apartment was pretty close to the Ministry luckily, and they reached it in no time at all. The décor inside of it, was cold and impersonal, done up in white, with just tiny splashes of color here and there almost making it look sterile like a hospital, but a really fancy one at that.

"My mum designed the place" Draco answered his unasked question, while removing his jacket, "I haven't changed anything about it since my parents first gave it to me."

"It's—it's a nice place" Harry said, but the owner shrugged nonchalantly and replied, "It's convenient, is all."

Draco showed Harry to the guest room before they could settle down and gestured to where Pansy had neatly arranged a dress and make up on the bed. Standing at a safe distance from him, Draco bashfully said, "So um..all the stuff that you'll need for...is here, so when you're ready to change just tell me yeah?"

Closing his eyes Harry nodded and looked at him pleadingly as a last ditch effort and softly said, "What about polyjuice potion? It would act as a better cover."

"Harry we're Ministry officials" Draco managing to look apologetic reminded him, "If we're caught with the stuff on us, we'll be sent to Azkaban for impersonation. But if they catch you dressed like a woman then you can just tell them that you like doing it as a..a hobby."

Giving up, Harry passed a weary hand over his face and went to sat with Draco on his couch drinking tea and eating store bought sandwiches while they discussed the plan once again and studied their opponents.

When it was finally time to get ready, Harry went into the guest room like it was death's door itself and took a much needed lengthy shower before courageously stepping into the dark blue dress that Pansy had so graciously provided him with, adjusting it with magic so that it fit him just right while he thanked the universe that he didn't have to wear a bra on a regular basis.

Using all his training at Concealment and disguise, he magically transformed bits of his face, by removing any signs of extra facial hair, reshaped his eyebrows and made his jawline narrower and more feminine. Sighing at his reflection in the mirror like the protagonist of some tragic play, he dabbled with some of the gucky make up morosely while trying to remember how Hermione did it. For the finale, he fixed the wig of long hair on his head and put on some jewelry lying on the bed next to his discarded robes.

Taking one last look at himself he groaned and shook his head miserably, 'The_ things I do for you!_' Before walking out of the door and clearing his throat when he entered the living room.

Draco who had been putting on his socks looked up at the noise and felt his jaw drop in shock!

* * *

Muahahahha poor ickle Harry Potter : )

If someone could help me with my godawful grammar I'd be really grateful : ) (thank you anonymous person!)

Review please thank you : )


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER: THE BOOK BELONGS TO J. I HAVE ONLY BORROWED BOTH CHARACTERS AND PLOTLINE.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 6**

* * *

"Bloody hell! Is that really you Potter?" Draco yelped, staring open mouthed at the lovely vision before him like a stunned Gulping Plimpy. Noting the beautiful dark-blue ruffled robes that hid Harry's lean, fit body and the gorgeous emerald necklace which Pansy had been gracious enough to provide them with, perfectly complimenting his newly altered face and long hair. The man was completely transformed!

'_I will not slap the bastard silly, I will not slap…_'Harry chanted in his head, knowing that if he gave into that particular emotion, he'd not only look like a girl but be acting like one as well and a really high-strung one at that.

Draco got up from the couch with one sock on his foot and another hanging limply from his hand and peered at Harry's face with something akin to horror mixed with astonishment. "You make one very hot woman Harry" he said finally after the close inspection and Harry unable to withstand the embarrassment gave into his urge and kicked the wanker hard on his shin!

* * *

Standing at the entrance to the grand ballroom in Ms. Zabini's mansion, Draco weaved his arm over Harry waist and muttered "Smile" before leading him into the crowd after his name had been announced.

'_They know…oh my god they know it's me!_' Harry felt giant sized knots form in his belly as he walked beside Draco, watching many people who were mostly men, turn and gawk at him.

"Well, well, what do you know Potter?" Draco whispered as he saw the looks of admiration in the crowd's eye, this one time not just for him but for Harry as well "Nobdy suspects a thing and I have ended up with the prettiest girl in the room on _my_ arm today!" he sniggered.

"Clodpole" Harry said, unable to hide his smile as the humor of their con suddenly hit him hard and he felt a tiny bit proud that his painstakingly made up disguise had gone over so well with the guests.

"Draco darling," a sultry voice came from behind them "I did not expect to see you this evening at my home" Ms. Zabini said looking suspiciously like a twenty five year old rather than her real forty. "I suppose Pansy insisted that you attend, isn't it? The poor girl has been missing my Blaise so dreadfully since he's gone off to Paris."

Draco took her hand and kissed it with a grace that had half the women swooning but which made the woman concerned, giggle in a flirty manner "So who's the lovely new missus with you Draco? I don't think I've ever seen her before."

"That's because you haven't madam" Draco winked at her "She was my junior at school in Hogwarts. Miss Harriett," he said "this is Ms. Zabini our hostess for tonight."

"Well she's utterly divine" the older lady was saying and gave Harry a once over while he was barely managing not to choke on hearing his alter ego's name.

Harry nodded politely and kissed her hand as well, wondering for the nth time why this fancy crowd still held on so tightly to their archaic forms of greeting. "It's a matter of hierarchy" Draco had explained to him in his house "The old tossers believe that one should always know their place in society, and not try to up their betters." _'Poppycock!_' Harry thought and feigned a smile.

"The two of you have made quite the impression on my guests" Ms. Zabini tittered, but the smile did not reach her cold dark eyes, '_Probably feels bad that that wasn't her_' Harry thought bitchily _'Oh fuck I really have turned into a women haven't I?_'

"Yes my Harriett brings out the best in me" Draco simpered like a lovelorn teenager and then without any warning whatsoever he drew Harry towards him and looked deeply into his shocked green eyes before bending over swiftly and kissing him right on the lips!

Harry felt as if he'd been enveloped in a warm summer breeze and he couldn't help but press his body closer to Draco, opening his mouth involuntarily and shuddering without making a single sound when Draco plunged his tongue into it and took full advantage of Harry's sudden lapse of judgment.

"Oy! Get a room" they heard Pansy's sardonic voice from somewhere beside them and they broke apart like they'd been scalded, finding that Ms. Zabini had left them already out of politeness.

"Amazing" Draco said softly as if in a trance, looking utterly bewildered and confused but unable to tear his gaze away from Harry, "That was…that was…you…"

"I can't believe you brought Mr. Potter as your date" Pansy whispered, looking amusedly at the two of them "and that too dressed as bloody woman. Cripes Potter, you make me feel bad about myself!"

Harry who was still stuck somewhere in la la land nodded absently and touched his thoroughly ravaged lips still wondering what had just happened.

"It was the dress Potter, so don't flatter yourself too much" Draco said, a little more harshly than he'd intended and snatched a glass of elfish wine from the serving tray before throwing down its contents into his mouth.

'_I've managed to unsettle the paragon of mankind!_' Harry suddenly though and started smirking happily. Cheekily grinning, he smacked the above mentioned prat on his bum and said in a perfectly steady voice "Get on with it Malfoy, we have a case to investigate remember? Or are you going to go all soft on me now?"

Draco gave himself one mental shake and nodded '_Egad! I'd completely forgotten!_' "Right," he said briskly, all business now "I saw our target at the drinks counter and luckily for us, the poor bugger seems to be all alone. Are you ready to do your bit?"

Harry smiled evilly saying "I'm ready. You know when to find us then?"

Draco winked at him and walked away into the crowd taking Pansy with him and started mingling with the people like he'd known them all his life.

Harry spotted Arnold Peasgoode sitting exactly where Draco had said he'd be and walked over to the older man, (whose face was sagging with boredom and whose stomach was hanging clear across his belt line), as demurely as a five foot eleven inch man, who'd never worn a pair of heels in his life before could manage.

"One glass of Berry Ock Rot's please" he requested the bartender, and sat down beside the other man looking straight ahead as if he wasn't even there.

"You are here with Mr. Malfoy are you not Miss?" Peasgoode asked him, while Harry mentally cheered that the man had unknowingly set the ball rolling, but outwardly gave him an affected sort of shrug.

"The bastard always manages to hook up with the best looking girls" Arnold mumbled enviously, forgetting his manners entirely.

Turning away from the fumes of alcohol that were coming from Peasgoode's mouth, Harry sighed tragically"But I don't think he loves me anymore" he said sadly "he's been ignoring me all evening in fact and has gone off to dance with that younger girl there."

"There there my child," Arnold said with a new gleam of hope in his eyes, as he patted Harry on his shoulder in a not so innocent manner "I'm sure that that is not true; there are none here who are as beautiful as yourself."

Harry almost rolled his eyes at him in disgust and threw his roving hand away, but managed to hold himself in check at the last moment. "Would like another drink Sir?" he asked him coyly "You look like you could do with one."

Peasgoode nodded eagerly and Harry ordered him a glass of Firewhiskey, shooting the bartender an almost imperceptible wink.

After they'd finished their drinks, Harry tried to keep talking to the man but prayed that the potion wouldn't take much longer to kick in, when he saw his eyes suddenly glaze over and he finally fell silent.

"Um Mr. Peasgoode? Can you hear me?" Harry asked him nervously, hoping that it was the Veritaserum that the bartender had mixed in it that made the man look like that and not the alcohol.

"I can hear you Miss Hariett" the man finally spoke up with a dissociated sort of voice, which sounded hollow and emotionless. '_Good' _Harry thought gratefully, but for safety sakes decided to ask him a few more questions.

"Do you know where we are right now Mr. Peasgoode?"

"Ms. Zabini's mansion" came the automatic reply and Harry was about to move on to the next question when he suddenly burst into tears and said sniffling, "She invited me saying that she really wanted me to here today, and now she's gone off to play with that Rookwood bloke instead as if I weren't even there! I even wore the pink thong like she'd asked me too!" He said in a dead panned voice while Harry and the bartender both flushed red from trying to hold in their laughter.

"Let's get some fresh air, shall we Mr. Peasgoode?" Harry asked the man politely and pulled him by his arm to an empty balcony before waiting for his answer. Roughly seating the man on a garden chair outside, he pulled out his ministry coin and alerted Draco that the task had been accomplished.

The suspect ex-hit wizard was rattling on and on about how he'd offered to give Ms. Zabini all his stupendous fortune if she'd agree to marry him, when Draco walked into the balcony and sealed the door shut behind him.

"This totally illegal you know?" Harry said conversationally to the man, avoiding looking at those all too pink lips. "If we're found out we'd lose a lot more than our careers."

Draco who was looking at the poor sod whom Harry had dragged to their current location, grinned and shrugged, "There's always a risk for everything, but I really needed to hear the truth and to know exactly what we're up against, so we'd better do this really quickly huh?"

Poking the man with the end of his wand and not receiving a response, Draco sat opposite him and began questioning him. "Do you know who Lucius Malfoy is Mr. Peasegoode?"

"Yes."

"Do you remember him asking you to help with patrolling of his manor sixteen years ago?"

"Yes."

"Who was the culprit who'd killed all those children?"

"Fenrir Greyback" the man said and Harry was sure he saw a grimace pass over his features.

"Did you capture him the night he'd attacked Lucius's son?"

"Yes."

"And…did you kill him during the struggle?"

"No" the man whispered and Draco's face contorted into a mask of rage.

"What happened then Mr. Peasegoode? What happened to Fenrir Greyback after that night?"

"I let him escape on the condition that he'd come work for me."

Harry gasped and Draco stood up angrily, clenching his fists till his knuckles were white.

"What work does he do for you?"

"The odd job here and there" came the immediate reply "Like when I ordered him to kill Cuthbert Mockridge, who'd been working in the goblin liaison office and found out from the goblins he'd been working with, that I'd been taking bribes from people and threatened to out me."

"You bastard" Draco said coldly "What does he do for you now?"

"Six months ago a man came to us with a proposition" Peasegoode said with a tiny hint of fear in his voice "He was a really powerful chap and he'd somehow gotten hold of a list of all my crimes and used it blackmail me."

"To do what?"

"He'd created a modified version of the Wolfsbane potion that he'd said would sell spectacularly well in the black market and he'd promised me a 20 percent cut from the money. I agreed to do it, since I had nothing to lose and made Fenrir round up a couple of other wolves to help us with the sale. He converted several men for just this purpose and began manipulating them with the drugs so that they wouldn't escape."

"Who was this man who told you to do this in the first place?"

"I….I don't know" Peasgoode said and the fear was back in his voice "He was really young and that surprised me" he said and fell quiet for a minute "but there was something different about him, I just couldn't say no."

Draco stood over the man like he was a bug that he wanted to crush and said, "You will be made to pay for your crimes Mr. Peasegoode. That monster, whom you've hired as your lackey, has hunted and killed so many children that I don't think your conscience will ever recover from the greatness of your sin. When I have the evidence, I'll make sure that the Wizengamot whom you think you've got wrapped around your fingers, throws you into Azkaban for life."

"No, please no!" The man started weeping and Draco without an ounce of feeling, tilted his mouth up and poured a sleeping draft down his throat. "He'll wake in the morning" he said stiffly to Harry and stood facing the great dark void of the night in front of them in a tense sort of silence.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked him resting a tentative hand on his shoulder.

"I will be" Draco vowed, his face bearing a steely expression of determination, "when I have all three bastards locked up in Azkaban and kissed nice and good for their crimes, I will be."

* * *

They had had to go back and rejoin the party to avoid any suspicion but had left the now drooling Arnold Peasgoode outside in the garden chair, "So, he'll catch a cold" Draco said airily "Bloody arse deserves it!"

Draco had gone with the other men to play at cards while Harry was stuck with the women half dozing from all the mindless chatter and was about to fall asleep when Pansy shook him awake with a worried expression on her face "I heard Draco's gone and gotten himself nice and drunk."

"So what?" Harry asked her surprised.

"Mr. Potter, when Draco is drunk he gets randy. He starts hitting on random people and his pheromones go haywire, trust me it'll be a pandemonium in here soon."

"So what should I do?" Harry asked her nonplussed.

"Take him home."

"To…to my home?" Harry stuttered at the implications and what being saddled with a horny, gorgeous Half-Veela who'd kissed him like his life depended on it, really implied.

Sighing he got up and found Draco being crowded in by men and women alike, fawning over him like he was some kind of bloody prince! Feeling irrationally territorial, Harry stomped over to them, all good grace forgotten and yanked the drunkard by his collar and heaved him towards the door after thanking Ms. Zabini for her hospitality,

"Pansy," Harry called out panting from lugging around his heavy charge "Thanks for tipping of the bartender with the potion" he said and pulled Draco who'd thankfully given up and gone to sleep off into the night and disapparated to his cottage before the rest of the smitten zombies could follow.

* * *

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	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER: THE BOOK BELONGS TO J. I HAVE ONLY BORROWED BOTH CHARACTERS AND PLOTLINE.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 7**

* * *

"Fuck Malfoy! You feel about as heavy as Grawp might" Harry panted through painfully drawn in breaths, thankful that he'd managed a side-along-apparation close to the front door of his cottage. Draco snorted in his sleep and blurrily woke up from his drunken stupor staggering away from Harry's grasp.

"Harry? Where are we?" He asked him swaying unsteadily on his feet and then tottered so close to him that they were standing practically nose to nose with each other. "You smell soooo good" he slurred and pressed his face into the crook between Harry's shoulder and neck and breathed him in deeply while Harry grew hot under his body.

"Um Malf…Draco?" He tentatively called out, as his completely stoned mentor snuggled deeper into him.

Suddenly without any warning whatsoever, Harry felt his fancy robes begin to slowly slide off his shoulders on its own and as he watched with horrified fascination, a blast of icy cold air hit him on his naked skin making him shiver uncontrollably. Turning around, he looked down and realized half angrily and half amusedly that the twisted Veela had somehow sneakily managed to pull down the zipper at the back of his dress without him noticing a thing!

"DRACO! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? Geroff me you Neanderthal! We're standing outside in the great bloody outdoors where everyone can fucking see us, and you suddenly decide that a striptease was in order?" He heaved a struggling Draco off of him, prying away his roaming fingers with difficulty.

Just barely managing to undo the wards around his house, he shoved him through the front door and heaved a sigh of relief when he was inside the privacy of his own home. "Harry!" Draco exclaimed happily and hugged him tightly, pressing little insistent kisses down the side of his neck, and Harry having had enough of not being able to reciprocate, held his wand up and said '_Levicorpus,'_ smirking when the man was suspended upside down in midair with his robes falling over his face.

"Harry?" Draco called out to him in a muffled voice "it's kind of dark in here mate" he said sadly and then added a seductive, "Come and join me."

'_Insufferable little git_!' Harry shook his head while trying not laugh and led him in that very position down to the guest room. Up righting him, he let him fall to the soft bed and bent tiredly over the mattress to pull off his socks and shoes. With that done, he pulled the covers up around him and turned off the lights.

Sometime during the middle of the night however, when he'd finally gone to bed knackered, after removing the day's disguise and was just on the verge of falling fast asleep, he felt a dip in his bed behind him and felt something warm press up against him. But too tired to care just then, he thought it was a part of his dream and ignored his misgivings completely.

* * *

Harry woke up the next morning to stunning, drowsy grey eyes, and the only intelligent thing that would come out of his mouth was "Gahhhh!"

"Potter, shut up!" Draco groaned and clutched his head "You sound like the Bandon Banshee who's gone and drunk one too many vials of Felix Felicis's! I think if you shouted any louder, my skull's gonna crack" he said piteously, through the hazy pain of a whopping big hangover.

"I thought that that was what you've been suffering from all along" Harry grumbled, "a cracked skull! But that aside, what the hell are you doing on my bed?"

"Wiseacre!" Draco retorted at his poor attempt of a joke. "The real question is, what the hell am I doing in your house?"

"You drank like a fish last night at the party so I got saddled with you unfortunately. When we came home, I definitely remember putting you up in the guest room but lo and behold, here you are!" Harry said simply "as if I haven't been through enough last night already!"

"Oh no!" Draco sighed "Alcohol and Veela should never go together, I've had experiences in my past that I've promised myself would never happen again!"

"Then what happened last night" Harry asked him, feeling so awkward by just lying there next to the very hot man.

"Fenrir I suppose" Draco said softly "Didn't like the feeling that my childhood nightmare is out and about instead of six feet under."

"Ah that explanation's probably going to get you off of the hook" Harry said disappointedly and inched further away from him surreptitiously.

"And where are you going?" Draco asked him, turning on the seduction to an intolerable level "I've just found out that getting up to you is a great feeling."

"You…you" Harry sputtered and then saw the wide shit-eating grin on Draco's face. "You fucking bastard!" He yelled and kicked him right off the mattress, but could not stop his gleeful cackling.

* * *

"Hey your house is amazing" Draco said taking a large bite out of the buttery, warm chicken Danish they'd each gotten at the Ministry Munchies in the Atrium.

Harry nodded and nearly scalded his tongue with a sip of hot coffee. He had been deliberately maintaining an arms distance from Draco all morning much to his mentor's amusement, but he was honestly afraid that if he got any closer to the blackguard he'd either snog him senseless or beat the living day lights out of him! _'I should probably ask Trelawney what to do_' Harry thought aimlessly, '_she'd be the only one who'd tell me to kill him since she'd have seen it happening a long time ago._'

"So what are the plans for today then?" Harry asked him while he was smarmily chatting up a storm with all the hot witches and wizards in the lift with them. "Well I thought we'd go and report to the boss first and then stop at my place to get my bike and then head out for a trek in the Epping Forest. I mean, if we're going to catch the wolf bastards we might as well be on our A game right? We have only three days until the full moon anyway."

"That's great Sir, but why your bike?" Harry queried making sure that there were at least three people between them, wondering how he'd survive another day in such close proximity.

"We're going to investigate in a muggle community. If we just popped in suddenly out of nowhere, they'll start thinking that the forest is haunted."

"Wait I have a better idea" Harry countered desperately "Mr. Weasley always drives his muggle car into work, so maybe he's brought it in today as well, so we could borrow it."

"Hmm…yeah that's a good plan" Draco shrugged "Do you know how to drive it though?"

"Yep" Harry said relieved '_At least I won't have to sit stuck to him!_' "I'll go ask Arthur while you talk to the boss, that way we can leave faster."

"Done" Malfoy said and they parted ways as soon as the doors of the service lift opened.

* * *

"We're going to die Potter" Draco growled, holding onto the handles on the roof of the Ford Anglia in a vice like grip. This was the third time the exhaust of the dratted car had backfired and Harry was starting to get worried as well. "We're almost there" he said gritting his teeth and praying for a miracle, "It's just around the corner."

They had decided to go as married partners for their cover, who were tired of living the humdrum city life and were just looking into a house by the Forest. They'd spruced themselves up in muggle clothing and wore matching rings on their fingers just in case they were asked about it.

The plan was a simple one. All they had to do was talk to as many locals as they possibly could and then go for a trek in the forest so that they drop the standard Ministry markers here and there which would keep them from getting utterly lost on the day of the stake out.

They turned at the bend in the road and were greeted by the sight of tiny clumps of buildings, surrounded by the serene Forest and its greenery. Stopping the car at the main entrance they got off and bought maps and some gear to take with them on the trek.

Afterwards they spent some time with the locals and asked them all kinds of question about the place and its residents and were quite happy to hear that there were more retirement homes than families with younger children, because that narrowed down their watch completely.

They left the place an hour later and finally started their exploration of the woods. The forest was magnificent with tall Oak trees, Silver Birches, Holly and several pollarded trees, but the best parts of it was when they'd suddenly come across hidden rivers and ponds in the midst of all the foliage.

There were several muggle trekkers and bikers like them but they'd already found out from the people that by the night the place was dead silent, with no activity whatsoever.

It was sun down by the time they'd gotten back to their car and they were bushed. Their boots were wet and felt heavy and their clothes were dirty as hell, but they were happy with what they'd accomplished and decided to call it quits for the day.

"Um Potter?" Draco said looking down at his watch in consternation "It's eleven o'clock in the night mate! By the time we get this car back to the Ministry and then apparate to your place we're not going to have anywhere to eat!"

"Actually I've thought about that already" Harry admitted, and feeling a tiny bit nervous said, "Um would you mind if I cooked us some supper?"

"You can cook!" Draco asked him in surprise.

"Yeah, it won't be great, but it will be edible…"

"Edible's good" Draco said leaning back on the seat as if the matter was completely settled, he hated sleeping on an empty stomach because it made him really cranky in the morning after. "I really do love you after all Potter" he said and the car nearly swerved off the road.

* * *

Draco watched Harry move around the kitchen effortlessly and whip up the most aromatic and delicious looking tomato, sausage, cheese and mushroom pasta he'd ever eaten. He was sitting at the island in the middle of the room and quietly thinking about how great it was to actually have someone working alongside of him and how seamlessly Harry had fit into his life.

Remembering the kiss from last night, he felt his stomach churn uneasily because quite frankly, it had scared the bejesus out of him. It had called to something so primal and deeply buried within him that he had felt weak kneed and shaky after it had happened. Something he'd never before felt in all of his vast experience.

Now taking a bite out of his food, once it had been served up piping hot, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when a burst of flavors hit his tongue and he couldn't help but moan with pleasure. "God, Potter! Those are some mad skills! Where the hell did you learn to do it like this?"

"Mrs. Weasley taught me some stuff when she found out I was going to be living alone" Harry said modestly.

"If I ever see her, I'm going to kiss the living daylights out of her" Draco vowed after a sip of wine.

'_Or you could just kiss me again_' Harry smiled to himself.

"Hmm what did you say?" Draco asked him looking up from his plate quizzically.

"Um…Mr. Weasley would have something to say about that" he said quickly and got up to send the plates and cutlery to the basin with magic. While they washed themselves in a happy sort of a dance with Harry supervising the process, Draco came over to hand in his own plate and then suddenly shocked him when he unconsciously wiped off a fleck of soap bubbles from Harry's face rather gently.

"It was great" he affirmed and smiled at him sweetly, for the first time without a hint of sarcasm lacing its edges.

"Th…thanks" Harry stammered and looked away, "If…if you want you can sleep in the guest room tonight…"

"Sound good" Draco said, "But I'm going to have go back home in the morning anyway to change out of these clothes and stuff, so I think I'll just go now instead."

"Um yeah…okay then, see you tomorrow and um goodnight" Harry smiled back at him and watched him leave feeling torn between acute disappointment and relief.

* * *

"Simmer down people and listen up" Draco clapped his hands impatiently. He and Harry had come up with the decision yesterday that they were going to need the help of the other Aurors to catch the Broadmoor brothers and so he'd called them for an impromptu meeting that morning.

"We've already been through the details of the case once, but if you need anything more clarified you can go to Lupin or Harry or my-self and we'll be glad to help you. Right now, I've brought in a couple of people today, who I think are going to be the turning point for us, so please pay attention."

Through the side door two people suddenly walked in and stood next to Draco quietly, waiting for him to introduce them. "You guys are all familiar with the Weasley twin's, Fred and George right?" Draco said and pointed them out "They've been working on a secret weapon for us at their joke shop to help us try to nab these suckers with lesser hassle. They were brought in three months ago when we first learned about the case and I think they're finally ready with a prototype."

"Thanks Malfoy" Fred said taking the floor from him and patting him on the shoulder "As you know, catching a werewolf is nigh impossible because they're vicious beast when turned, no offence Lupin" he said turning to the sedate man who grinned and waved him on, "So George, Ron and I came up with a simpler technique of stopping them…"

Walking up to the table beside his brother, George placed a tiny glistening ball on the tabletop that looked like a black oyster pearl and said with a flourish "Voila! Presenting to you,'The Rete d'Argento', also known as 'The Silver Net'!"

"So before you guys start wondering about what it does, let me demonstrate it you" Fred said and threw the ball up in the air and sent a couple of sparks at it from his wand. Once it had peaked, the ball burst open and huge, actual silver net flowered from within it, trapping all them under its shimmery texture. "

"The wolves will able to move very minimally underneath them, in fact look at Remus, he's been struggling to get it off of him! But the only problem is, that we have no idea how long the magic will withstand the pressure from the wolves, it might only give you a couple of minutes at best."

"Which is where Mr. Severus Snape comes in" Draco said and the door opened to let in a third man.

"Snivellus!" Sirius barked out happily "What're you doing outside the dungeons? Sure being under the sun is a good idea?"

"What are you talking about Black?" Snape asked him silkily, "You're a big, dark and ugly cloud looming over my head, so what sun? Also it seems like you need my help as usual, so here I am" Snape sneered at him "Never could managed to do things on your own now, could you?"

"Can't you be a little nice for once Sev?" Black asked him laughingly, toying with the man because he was so close to losing it and snapping.

"I can be, but only when hell freezes over, you delirious cur!"

"Okay shut up you two!" Draco said getting exasperated "Can we get back to the case now, Uncle?"

Severus nodded and after shooting Sirius a murderous glare said "I've been studying the modified version of the Wolfsbane potion and I've found out that the hallucinogen in the mixture is very a strong one. It makes the wolves angrier, violent and more bloodthirsty, beyond the usual. I've however managed to create an antidote which will suppress the effect of the hallucinogen and aggravate the suppressant effect of the wolfsbane part of it, so you should have a docile wolf by the end of it. But as Mr. Fred Weasley here said, the wolves have a metabolic rate which is phenomenally high and they've been pumped up with the drug so again I can't really tell you how long it'll work."

"Thanks guys" Draco said politely could you wait for me in my office?" he asked them "We'll have to discuss the issue of the price for these little suckers" he said pointing to the burnt out black ball and watched them leave before turning back to the now very, focused group in front of him.

"I need you people to decide who is free to come with us on that night because there is no way Harry and I can pull this off on our own and once were ready with the list, we'll start training with those silver net things and how to use them. Please come to a decision by the end of the day, since we now have only two days before full-moon. Thank you all for your cooperation."

* * *

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	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER: THE BOOK BELONGS TO J. I HAVE ONLY BORROWED BOTH CHARACTERS AND PLOTLINE.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 8**

* * *

"Bugger!" Scott Ancrum hissed from underneath the hood of his Standard Invisibility cloak that the Weasley brothers had fleeced the Ministry for.

"Ancrum, is something happening on your end old chap?" Sirius his mentor called out urgently "Have you spotted the beasties?"

"N…"

"Scotty, stiff upper lip mate and if you need us, just holler alright?" Daniel sternly ordered him from his own hiding place.

"But…"

"Scott…"

"Blast it people! It was a bloody, freakin' mosquito bite! No need for you'll to go all postal on me now, okay? Blimey!"

"Mr. Ancrum, if you yell one more time for anything other than spotting the Broadmoor twins, so help me, I'm going to come over there and spank you senseless, you lily-livered toad!" Draco growled while Harry coughed to cover up the awkwardness that had come over their interconnected Extended Ears.

"Oh belt up you cankerous lot and keep your damn ears open" James admonished them exasperatedly "The targets might have already slipped right past us without us even knowing it by now!"

The six Aurors doused in potions that dulled their own scents and with the added protection of invisibility cloaks were hiding scattered under the cover of the dark velvety night in Eppings Forest, waiting restlessly for the criminals to show. Luckily for them, the markers that Harry and Draco had dropped randomly on the grounds had served their purpose and they were now able to maneuver around the forest with ease.

"Guys" Sirius said suddenly, speaking in a low hoarse voice "I think the blighters are somewhere close to my location; so be ready for my signal yeah?"

They all tensed up and strained their ears for any unusual sounds when they heard it. It started with a low woof, like that of a dog's and then suddenly the night's silence was completely shattered when the spine-chilling moan of a baying wolf sounded in the very depths of their souls.

They heard the thud of the beasts footfalls and the savage snarls that were getting louder and louder by the second "Blast it!" Sirius yelled "They're here!"

The remaining five apparated even before his shout had ended and found themselves standing in the same clearing as Sirius Black with their backs to one another when an ugly, drooling hairy monster that was all limbs leaped from behind the bushes followed closed by its brother, both growling mutinously and salivating from their jowls.

"Wards up" James shouted and Harry, Daniel and Scott responded immediately by raising their wands and crying out "_Protego Maxima_" watching the powerful shield surround them all, enclosing them within its deadly protection.

The wolves becoming sensitized by the sudden use of magic bristled and stepped back while trying to escape, when one of the wolves touched the force-field with its paw and yelped miserably as its flesh got singed in its burning power.

The three senior Aurors circled the wolves fearlessly looking just as menacing as them in the eerie blue glow from the shield. Sirius as usual the man with the least amount of patience, threw his silver net ball high up into the air and shot sparks at it, opening it up before anyone else had moved.

The wolf that stood beneath the unraveling trap, leaped towards his assailant with a sudden ferocity and stunned him with its onslaught making James roar out in frustration and apparate just above the beast's back with his robes arcing around him gracefully and in a split second managed to plunge a long, thick silver needle filled with Snape's potion that they were all carrying into its leg before crashing heavily on top of it to the ground at Black's feet.

Barely managing to roll away from his prey in time, James watched while panting heavily as the net landed neatly on the now limp creature.

"Fuck Black!" James shouted "You could've given us some warning you bastard" he ground out, unhappy with Sirius's impetuousness.

"Quit mucking around you two, there's still one more sucker left, remember" Draco said already stalking the second beast which was now moaning piteously at the sight of its ensnared brother.

It was then that the younger Aurors learnt why Draco had been made a senior at such a young age. Without missing a single beat, just as the angry wolf charged towards him at blinding speed they saw a cloud of dust arise from the ground around Draco blocking their view temporarily from the battle and when the air had finally cleared, it was a nonchalant Draco that they witnessed standing in place of the wolf while the wolf itself now lay fallen in a newly created pit in the floor.

Throwing up the silver net ball Draco shot up a few sparks and watched it unravel and wrap itself around the monster while the others inturn stood staring at _him_ completely awestruck.

"And that's how it's done" he said smugly before glaring at Sirius who shrugged in his best '_I don't give a flying fuck_' impression.

"Um…who's keeping the tracer coins boys?" James called out watching the beast he and Sirius had nailed stir almost imperceptibly within its confinement.

"I have it Sir" Daniel said smartly and handed him three gleaming gold coins. Taking them from him, James walked over to the closest beast and pressed the coin into its flank until it had sunk below the skin leaving no trace of its having ever been there at all.

While four of them then began hauling the next wolf from its makeshift cage, Harry and Scott stood a little apart from the others keeping an eye on the darkness beyond them since the shields had already fallen when Harry suddenly heard the rustling of leaves in the still night's air just beyond the group.

Immediately becoming alert he narrowed his eyes in the direction of the noise and this time he heard it again accompanied by a low growl that raised the hair on the back of his neck when he saw a smaller wolf jump over the bushes and head straight to the tiny group in front of it.

Without thinking, Harry threw a ribbon of flames between it and the other Aurors, distracting the creature from its initial course so that it would come at him instead. Fumbling from anxiety, he finally managed to extricate his own silver needle from within the folds of his robes just as the monster bore down on him with a single-mindedness that left him quaking in his shoes just a tiny bit.

Having no more time to think beyond stopping the wolf, Harry plunged the needle deep into its exposed belly when it took a flying leap at him and unable to disapparate due to the suddenness of the attack, he found himself being crushed by the weight of a 200 pound wolf as it sunk its claws into his arms before collapsing on top him.

"Harry! Oh my god son, are you alright?" James cried out desperately while trying to heave the creature away from a dazed Harry.

"D—dad " Harry gagged from inhaling the fumes of rotted flesh that came from the wolf's breath on top of him, "You're crushing me further mate" he whimpered as the claws that had been immersed in his flesh got jostled around with the movement.

Pushing James aside, Draco whose hands were trembling from the rush of adrenaline that stemmed from his fear, with the aid of a rather grim faced Sirius, levitated the beast slowly and carefully, gently dislodging each claw with infinite care.

"Are you okay?" Draco asked him with a tight voice, grimacing at the sight of his ripped robes and the blood oozing out of it. "Did it…did it bite you?" he asked him while James who hadn't thought of that problem went absolutely still in Sirius's restraining arms.

"N—no" Harry whispered unable to squeeze out his breath "just its claws and I think I've got a couple of broken ribs."

"That's goo…"

Suddenly all their Ministry coins glowed red and they looked at each other stumped for answers. The red glow signified an emergency and it meant that they were all being called back to the Ministry, pronto.

"I'll take Harry with me to Mungo's" James said unsteadily after finally being let free from Sirius's tight hold "You guys go and find out what's happening."

"No" Draco cut him off gently and just as James was about to argue, he reached out and patted the worried father on his shoulder in a show of support and said "I've already got Snape waiting in my apartment with a fresh batch of wolfsbane potion in case there were any casualties and he's also pretty proficient when dealing with injuries so I'm going to take Harry with me and I'll join you guys once he's safe okay? James…I know you want to be with your son, but you're too agitated and he needs a bit of calm right now. I promise you I'll take good care of him for you yeah?"

James looked uncertainly from the younger man to Harry and then nodded his head jerkily "Make sure that Severus looks after him real good okay?" and then turning to the others he barked out "Come! Back to Ministry guys, let's see what fresh hell awaits us yeah?" and the others recognizing his already troubled state didn't question his orders and apparated wordlessly, leaving behind a wounded Harry and Draco with the three wolves.

* * *

"Is he going to be okay?" Draco asked Snape as he watched the man carefully inject wolfsbane into the now unconscious Harry "Do you think he'll turn?"

"I thought you intelligent Draco" Snape sniffed haughtily at the slowly reddening man "only a bite and that too a fatal bite can bring about the change. I've already closed Harry wounds and given him the potion so except for some lingering signs of infection and scars the boy will be right as rain by the next few days."

"Thank you" Draco tipped his head not removing his eyes from his apprentice.

"What about the wolves? What did you do to them?"

"They'll stay unconscious till the morning since I gave them another dose of your potion and by then they would have changed back into their human forms with no memory of what happened to them. Hopefully one of the three will lead us straight to our target."

"Three wolves" Snape murmured shaking his head. "It's a good thing that your father knows nothing about this or he'd have definitely made you quit."

"My father can do nothing to me Uncle" Draco said stiffly "he lost that right when he threw me out for making my own decisions. The man needs to realize that he can't control me like the rest of his hanger ons and I'm never going to give him an opportunity to do so."

"But he lov…"

"Loves me? Yeah I know, what of it?" Draco shrugged "he has yet to accept me."

"Stubborn" Snape smirked and then headed towards the furnace.

"You're leaving?" Draco asked him alarmed "I need someone to watch Harry while I go to the Minisry, there's been some sort of a problem."

Clicking his tongue impatiently Snape nodded and sat back heavily on one of the plush sofas "Get back quick" he were his only words "I need to be back at Hogwarts just in case…"

"In case of what?" Draco asked him quizzically wondering why Snape had clamped up so suddenly.

His godfather sighed and looked away from him focusing on the green flames in the furnace disconsolately before softly saying "Don't tell anyone else this but I think Dumbledore's time is coming to an end."

"What?" Draco breathed out in disbelief, "The wizarding world will be utterly shattered by the news!"

He himself hadn't known the man that well since only once in his life had he ever spoken with him on a one-on-one basis when he'd been made Head-boy and that time apart from feeling slightly amazed at his powerful aura he'd been on a sugar high from having unconsciously eaten about twenty of those damn lemon drops that the barmy old codger had kept offering him.

"It started happening about a month ago when I found him collapsed on the floor of his office. Gave me quite a start" Snape said shuddering involuntarily when he remembered the ice cold feel of the Headmaster's weathered hands and that deep sense of fatigue in his normally bright blue eyes.

It had left him feeling lost and even now he found himself unable to reconcile with the ugly truth that Dumbledore was a mere mortal man even though he was so unyielding and strong and that he was facing imminent death just like the rest of them.

* * *

Draco had just apparated to Hampstead Heath after a quick debriefing at the Ministry and found him-self standing amidst a large crowd of bustling people and the strong smell of blood and something rotten.

Standing on the tips of his toes he surveyed the scene in hopes of finding a familiar face when he saw a rather haggard looking Frank Longbottom talking rapidly to one of the many members from the Obliviator Headquarters who had already started wiping clean the memories of muggle stragglers.

Walking over to his colleague, Frank turned towards him and shook his hand "It's a good thing you came in late" he said "how's Mr. Potter?"

"Why? Why is it a good thing that I'm late and what the fuck happened here? Oh and by the way Harry's doing fine."

"It's a good thing your late because you just missed the bloody press and that bitch Skeeter" Frank grimaced.

"Yikes!" Draco breathed in relief, the woman was a walking disaster. "So what happened here then? They just told me to get my bum down here as fast as I could at the Ministry, so here I am."

"There was an all-out attack on a muggle family by a pack of wolves" Frank said looking meaningfully at a shocked Draco "Parents and three children found mauled to death by three '_animals'_ and were left in the gutter by the woods. It was a muggle who'd alerted us of the crime."

"Wait" Draco looked confused "I thought Rufus had placed a couple of watchers on the pack-lands in case this happened after Lupin left them, so how the hell weren't you guys informed?"

"Because all three of them are dead" Frank sighed sorrowfully. "The fuckers left their corpses in front of our underground toilets on Whitehall Street and notified us through the damn payphone. Even the coroner, bless his heart, couldn't hold down his dinner when we brought in the remains to his office. It was an ungodly act" the Auror said looking thoroughly spooked.

Unable to stop, Draco excused himself in a hollow voice and like an automaton dragged his body over to the vehicle holding the victims and on looking inside he felt the tell-tale taste of the bitter acidic bile rise up at the back of his throat and he lurched away from bloody mess like a drunken man.

Shit he and Harry were so close to closing the case, why the hell did this have to happen now?

* * *

"Ah Draco come in, come in" Rufus said barely looking up from a massive pile of parchments on his table. "We need to talk about the case" he said gesturing vaguely at one of the chairs opposite him.

"I just finished talking to the chief editor of the Daily Prophet" Scrimgeour went on while Draco sat down "Told him to hold off the article and give us a little more time to solve the case" he said "had to explain to him that publishing the damn thing would ruin the case for us and as an incentive I bribed him with a promise that we'd give his blasted newspaper an exclusive report once we're done."

"That's good I suppose" Draco said somehow feeling distinctly guilty.

"It's a pain in my arse is what it really is" Rufus said finally looking up at him "Thicknesse has finally got a whiff of the case now and he came in nearly beating down the bloody doors of my office for an explanation of some sort,_ 'Rufus, what on earth are you doing old chap, have you gone soft? Why haven't you exterminated the wolf vermin as yet?_' Luckily for you and me he hasn't yet found out about the drugs involved so I just told him that we needed a couple more weeks to wrap it up."

"Sir but…"

"Draco listen to me son" Rufus said sternly "I can't hold this man off forever you know. You and Harry need to finish this job up quickly so that he doesn't send another one of his Inquisitorial Staff over to the department '_to help us_' as he so eloquently put it, especially that blasted Dolores."

Draco nodded dejectedly and as he walked out of the office burdened by his newest orders he felt angry and wronged by the entire screwed up system and wanted to kick Pius Fucking Thicknesse straight into the dragon hold.

* * *

Harry opened one eye and then the next feeling groggy and distant with all the sleeping drafts he'd had to take and saw his mum standing over him looking positively elated now that he was back once again to the land of the living.

"Harry how are you feeling darling?" she said softly while stroking his messy hair "are you still feeling sick?"

"Um…" Harry croaked out with his ill-used voice "No..no 'is all good , everything feels fine."

Lily tutted in disapproval saying "I'm a healer you fibber, you can't just get away with '_I'm fine_' you know? You've been in and out of consciousness for nearly two days now."

"Seriously mum, I feel good. Look…"he said and proceeded to flex his arm to prove his wellness when they both heard some clearing their throat at the door.

"Draco!" Lily blushed and giggled while Harry rolled his eyes in mock horror (god even his mum!). "Come in child" she ushered him "I'll just go and make some breakfast for the two of you while you talk."

Draco nodded gratefully and sat down at the edge of Harry's bed looking tired but radiantly so.

"Why the fuck do you have to look like that so early in the morning?" Harry grumbled feeling embarrassed by his own grimy state.

Draco cracked the first smile he smiled since the day in the forest and thought how strange it was that he'd actually missed his apprentice while slogging over the latest investigations. "So I look good do I?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and grinning down smarmily at him.

Harry weakly swatted his thigh and smiled back in acquiescence, '_The truth is the truth_' he told himself while trying his hardest not to slide his hand further up.

"Just tell me about everything that's happened, what did I miss?" Harry yawned and pulled himself up to rest against the headboard of the bed.

Draco brought him up to speed efficiently while trying not to think about the broken bodies of one of the children during the attack as it still made him want to hurl. Harry listened with rapt attention and was aghast to find out that so much had transpired in just two days.

"We're having a memorial for the watchers families and the muggles" Draco said looking outside his window at the blue ocean "It'll probably be held tomorrow morning."

"I'm going" Harry said simply.

"You can't even get out of bed" Draco retorted, feeling somewhat responsible for Harry's condition.

"Ugh you're feeling guilty about this aren't you?" Harry hit the nail on the head while Draco stared determinedly at the floor.

"You can't be serious!"

"That's why I didn't want a bloody apprentice" Draco said gruffly "too much responsibility. If something had happened to you…"

"Oh wow" Harry said in a stunned sort of voice, "I never thought I'd see you getting sentimental over lil ol' me" he grinned happily.

"Oh can it, you impudent bastard!" Draco smiled and ruffled his hair fondly, while Harry involuntarily leaned into his touch. '_It's like I'm his favorite dog_' he thought smitten, '_at least it's a big step up from being an imbecile!'_

* * *

It was a cold, wet day as most days in England usually are. The somber, overcast sky perfectly matched the leaden hearts of the small crowd gathered in front of eight new graves that marked the bodies of the victims (though the muggles had been buried in a different place of course) of that one horrible night.

It was in front of those pure white marble stones and the faces of the grieving relatives that Draco and a tired Harry exchanged looks of resolve, Fenrir and his pack were going to pay.

* * *

Thank you LalalaSpacingInPandaLand, your reviews make me want to keep writing *hint hint* to all the other readers out there ; ) Ciao!


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER: THE BOOK BELONGS TO J. I HAVE ONLY BORROWED BOTH CHARACTERS AND PLOTLINE.**

* * *

"How dare you? How fucking dare you!" Draco snarled as he leaned over the surface of the Minister's table and thrust his face angrily into his superior's rather startled one.

"Mr. Malfoy!" A high-pitched, girly squeak came from somewhere behind Thicknesse's head and Draco's stony gaze shifted and fell on the disapproving figure of Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary and Chief of the Inquisitorial Squad looking more and more like a gift-wrapped frog, crowned by a ginormous polka-dotted bow on her head.

"I'm sorry if I offended your sensibilities Mr. Malfoy" the Minister apologized in a placating voice as Draco straightened up still glaring at him "But I was only referring to the werewolves involved in the case and not anyone else when I said it."

"What you said Minister and I quote is '_Find those miserable half-breeds and feed them to the Dementors. They're barely considered human anyway and should have been exterminated a long time ago.'" _Pius paled at the accuracy of the quote realizing only then how incriminating it sounded.

"Now I don't know if you know are aware of this Minister," Draco continued coolly "but one of my best friends and a great ally of the Ministry happens to be a werewolf himself and I'm pretty sure that if the people who knew him found out what you really thought of Mr. Lupin and his _'kind'_ you'd find yourself looking for another job by the next election!" He vowed knowing fully well where the man's weak points were.

"Are you threatening me Mr. Malfoy?" Pius asked him softly his voice dropping to a dangerously low level while he clenched his fists subtly.

"Oh no Minister, I would never do that" Draco said unconvincingly "I was merely _suggesting _that you keep your personal prejudices private and not have them publicized as that would only hurt _you _in the longer run."

"Then I thank you for the advice and hope that you solve this case quickly because the more you prolong it the more damaging it becomes to our reputation. You are dismissed" He said and watched expressionlessly as Draco gave him a curt nod before walking out of the office like he owned it.

'_The man might be utterly beautiful to look at but his beauty belies his dangerous side when he's crossed' _Pius thought ruefully. Next time he'd have to be more careful and play his cards close to his chest or risk gaining the wrath of the very influential Lucius Malfoy if he dissed his son again.

* * *

"So? What did the Minister have to say?" Harry asked Draco immediately when he'd returned to his own office bearing a sour countenance.

"The usual" Draco shrugged evasively "How we have to do his bidding or else."

"Ah…" Harry said leaving the matter alone when he recognized the foul mood that his mentor was in.

"So anything exciting happen when I was gone?" Draco asked him from his current perch on his table's surface.

"No Sir. Nothing interesting or out of the ordinary, it's almost as if they know we're watching or something but for the past one week since we've implanted the tracers they've been avoiding Eastern London like the plague."

"Excellent" Draco murmured dully "And what about you? Still feeling feverish? Need I get you anything?"

"Um…no, I'm okay but thank you" Harry flushed pink from all the attention "Between Snape and my mum there was no way that I'd remain an invalid for so long."

"Good" Draco sighed, hopping down from his coveted position "I can't have you sick when things are just heating up. By the way whose turn is it to monitor the traces tonight?"

"Mine and Akagi's" Harry said after checking out the schedule they'd drawn up with the other teams earlier in the week.

"Well, best of luck then and let's hope that tonight's the night yeah?" Draco ruffled Harry's already messy hair, a habit he found himself becoming addicted to and walked out of the room with a wave, completely missing the dazed look on Harry's face when he raised his hand to touch the top of his own head almost reverently.

* * *

"So how do find working with Mr. Longbottom?" Harry asked Sakara while they played a game of exploding snap to while away the time instead of just staring at the tracer board.

"Oh he and Mrs. Longbottom are really nice people. They seem to think that since I don't go home that often I starve or something because they keep inviting me to their home for supper. I've been there like five times already and the food is to die for" Sakara smiled reminiscent before turning back to concentrate on her game since she was a naturally focused person and took up everything as a challenge.

"Sounds good" Harry said trading a card "My mentor however is like the bleeding weather of England. Sometimes he's all nice and understanding but at other times he's like a rampaging hippogriff!"

"Whatever" Sakara rolled her eyes exaggeratedly "He's fucking hot and I for one would have never been able to work beside him with my head screwed on" she giggled very uncharacteristically for her since she usually liked to look tough.

Harry made an incoherent sound at the back of his throat and was very grateful when the pile of cards between them exploded even though he'd been divested of an eyebrow in the bargain and found to his embarrassment that Sakara was literally rolling on the floor and laughing at him like a deranged hyena.

"Ya, Ya yuk it up" he smiled down indulgently at her while she wiped away tears and chanced a glance at the tracer board standing up with excitement when he saw that the targets had finally made their move in East London!

* * *

"Mr. Malfoy!" Harry banged on the man's apartment door incessantly in the hope that he would respond when he finally heard a muffled voice say '_Alohomora_' and watched thankfully as the door swung open admitting him into the house.

"Potter this had better be important or I'm going to kill you" Draco said with his voice scratchy from sleep and turned around to find a dumbstruck Harry who staring disorientedly at him and thought _'Poor sucker must be dead tired from the lack of sleep.'_

"Hmmm…Harry? You wanted to say something? Oh and by the way your missing an eyebrow just so you know" He prompted the glassy-eyed sod impatiently but not receiving an answer he stomped off to find some clothes to wear, coincidentally giving his subordinate ample time to recover.

'_Oh. My. God. Kill me now_' Harry thought when Draco had disappeared into his room, drooling in his mind like an exuberant mastiff '_Draco Malfoy has got to be the sexiest thing in silk boxers since they were invented!_'

Tousled bed hair, sleepy grey eyes, stunning six packs, chiseled, smooth back, long, long legs...!

'_A god!_' Harry thought dreamily and had to physically shake himself before his mentor walked back into the room and found him salivating on the floor.

"Did you guys pick up their trail then?" Draco asked him coming out of his bedroom this time looking decent in slacks and an ill-fitting jumper making Harry sigh with relief.

"Yeah, they were headed to a pub named the 'Hungry Wolf'" Harry said while Draco smirked at the obvious giveaway in the title.

"They're not even trying to hide are they? Cocky bastards!" He shook his head pulling out two Butterbeers and giving one to Harry. "So did they go anywhere else from there?"

"No, they've been there without moving since the first time we saw them so l let Sakara keep an eye on them while I came to get you."

"Good work" Draco said throwing on some robes while he simultaneously drained his chilled bottle pushing Harry out of his house saying "Let's go relieve Akagi and catch those nutters."

* * *

"So what's it going to be then?" The bored clerk at the front desk of a seedy inn opposite the Hungry Wolf pub asked Harry, "A double or a single? I ain't gonna do no judging, scouts honor" He leered cheekily at him.

Harry firmly squelched all fantasies of sharing a double bed with Draco by reminding himself sternly that they were strictly on the job. Swallowing guiltily, he held up a finger and managed to say "One" with some difficulty.

"Pity" The clerk shrugged, throwing him a set of keys "One room, with single beds for the both of ya" he made a quick scan with his beady eyes over in Draco's direction licking his lips hungrily and finished with "for a week only? Is that right guvnor?"

"Yes, thank you" Harry thanked him and went in search of their room closely followed by a rather silent Draco.

Opening the rickety door to their rented room Harry dropped his bags on the floor with a thud and fell on top of one of the beds feeling completely drained after such a hectic week.

"Ugh this place stinks" Draco finally said and Harry lifted his head to see the demi-god like person wrinkle his nose in disgust at the algae coloured walls.

Remembering that the Malfoy's were obscenely rich, Harry understood with some amusement that this room must have horrified the only heir to the large fortune with its decrepit appearance but deciding to let the snobby wimp fester on his own, he closed his eyes after telling his mentor to take the first shift to spy on the pub and fell into a deep much needed sleep.

* * *

Thanks for the reviews guys. Sorry for the delay though hopefully the next few chaps should be up at a faster pace : )


	10. Chapter 10

**DISCLAIMER: THE BOOK BELONGS TO J. I HAVE ONLY BORROWED BOTH CHARACTERS AND PLOTLINE.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 10**

* * *

Harry's arm was numb from holding up the dratted omnioculars that he'd been doggedly pressing up against his eyes for what seemed like several hours now but he didn't try to seek even a moments respite in fear of missing something important.

The Hungry Wolf pub had remained desolate during the morning and afternoon with people entering in ones and twos but the nightlife had proven to be a complete turnabout. Men and woman had come in in droves, all of whom Draco had identified, through his superior sense of smell, as people from different races of werewolves, vampires and even a few stray veela.

They were a rowdy bunch, drinking, dancing and smoking the night away with quite a few decked out in muggle leathers, tattoos and piercings making them stand out from the rest of the rather casually dressed crowd. If it hadn't been for the fact that some of them had boldly arrived on broomsticks, breaking at least fifty Ministry rules in the bargain, Harry would have never realized that they were actually wizards and witches.

"See anything good?" Draco called out while lying down boneless on top his mattress, a sight which was so sensual and decadent somehow that Harry had made sure he'd maintained at least ten feet space between them at all times so that he wouldn't give in to his lust crazed desires and jump his unsuspecting mentor.

"No, nothing…" his voice petered off as his grip on the ominoculars tightening infinitesimally and he swung around to face the resting half-veela with an excited gasp "They're here" he breathed "The Broadmoor brothers are finally here!"

* * *

"How do we this then?" Harry asked Draco nervously after they'd spruced themselves up enough so that they would blend in unnoticed into the crowd at the pub dousing liberal amounts of potion to dull their scents and altering their features with magic.

"Simple" Draco clapped him on the shoulder suddenly murmuring sotto voce right beside his ear sending chills down his spine "we'll be masquerading as a couple with you as my bitch" his trademark smirk looking especially smug just then as he tilted Harry's chin with a single appraising finger before letting go and chuckling at his own antics.

"Wha…?" Harry stammered, battling with conflicting emotions of offense at the crassness of the statement but getting totally aroused by it at the same time.

"You see Potter" Draco said wiggling his eyebrows in a comically suggestive manner "in any relationship of mine, I prefer doing the buggering if you know what I mean?" he grinned and Harry unable to stop the blush from coming wacked him hard on his head and laughed when he heard the mock angry "Oy!" from his boss.

* * *

"They're on the dance floor" Harry whispered on spotting the wolf twins going wild with a fast number from the Hobgoblins moving in time with its upbeat tune.

"Then let's join 'em" Draco grinned and pulled Harry into the gyrating melee only stopping when they found themselves standing close enough to their targets to be able to keep an eye on them without appearing suspicious.

At first they moved awkwardly with each other feeling too self conscious but as the music and their close proximity gradually took over their senses they really got into the mood of things and started moving in complete sync.

Harry wanting to unsettle the insufferable git before him just once, pressed himself up against Draco sensuously, losing himself to the almost hypnotic rhythm of the drums as it echoed with his heartbeat. Draco's pupils dilated in the dark when he felt Harry meld into him and his arms tightened over the younger man almost imperceptibly startling himself with the possessiveness in that gesture.

Moving as if he'd lost control over his own body, Draco bent his face to nuzzle Harry's neck and inhaled his warm familiar scent happily before raising his head to gaze deeply into those mesmerizing green eyes that shone with an almost mystical air in the dim lights.

He felt that same indescribable pull he'd felt during Ms. Zabini's party and was about to kiss him when the other man frantically pulled away from him, making him hiss at the sudden loss, but came back from his high immediately when Harry said "They're on the move" pointing to the Broadmoor twins who were quickly disappearing through a huge tapestry on the wall.

Pushing people away from them they hurried into the bathroom and placed disillusionment charms on themselves before heading for the same tapestry.

"On the count of three" Draco whispered close to Harry "One…two…three…" they slipped past the vivid painting of a snarling wolf and found themselves standing in a narrow corridor that was dimly lit with an orange overhead light giving it an eerie appearance.

Walking as silently as they could they finally came across a thick door which Draco managed to open easily with a well-placed '_Alohomora_' and were suddenly besieged by a deafening roar accompanied by a sight so incongruous with their imagination that it left their jaws hanging in surprise.

The room they entered was like a mini amphitheater with a dais in the center surrounded by a set of crude steps placed strategically around it for an audience to be able to sit. At that moment the stage was occupied by two, tall muscle bound men who were fighting like enraged animals while people on the sidelines were egging them on as they ripped into each other drawing blood from their opponent with every strike.

"Time" another man dressed in formals announced and everyone groaned in disappointment as the men separated still eyeing each other with hate. Walking to opposite ends of the fighting ring they both wiped of the sweat and grime from their bodies and one of them pulled out a tall vial containing a purple misting potion in it and held it up for all the audience to see.

"Today's chosen will now drink the magical potion and you will all have the privilege of witnessing its power firsthand. Watch closely as the now infinitely superior warrior decimates his opponent!" The announcer said and the audience went wild, chanting the man's name while his opponent looked on with a hint of fear in his eyes.

Standing up they faced each other again but this time with the man who'd drunk the potion was looking dreamily off into space while the other man bounced nervously on the balls of his feet. "At the sound of the whistle…" The referee whistled and the men flew at each other's throats instantly but it was painfully evident after a few seconds that the man who'd consumed the potion was going to win.

He moved with such grace and agility looking so devastatingly vicious that the both Harry and Draco found themselves riveted to the fight unable to tear their gaze away from something so dangerous yet magnetic at the same time.

When the other man was lying on the floor completely wiped out and barely alive the referee blew on his whistle and the announcer said "And now for the twist…" bringing up another vial containing the potion and giving it to the fading man who grabbed it eagerly and drank from it without another thought.

At first it looked like nothing had happened but then suddenly the wounded man heaved himself off of the ground as if he hadn't been injured at all and resumed fighting with increased vigor until both men were lying on the floor panting and bleeding as the referee blew the last whistle and declared the match a draw while the announcer informed the public that the miracle drug they'd just witnessed in action was available to them as well and proceeded to announce the exorbitant price for it but the audience seeming undeterred by the expense scrambled forwards to make the payment.

Looking up in an attempt to study the room around them Draco spotted a small balcony above the crowd and narrowed his eyes with shock when he saw a man resembling Fenrir Greyback stand up from a throne like chair and disappear silently beyond some thick red velvet curtains behind it.

"Come" Draco said quietly to Harry as the show ended and they made their way out of the pub and into their room in the inn in complete silence.

* * *

"We're going to need lots of back up" Draco warned Rufus while the older man rubbed his temples tiredly.

"Then I'm going to have to inform the Minister about it since he's the only one who can get the Hit wizards to co-operate with us."

Nodding stiffly at the suggestion and wanting to rebel but not giving in to the urge Draco left a pile of reports on his superiors table and left the room feeling annoyed at having to ask that despicable man for favors.

* * *

They stood outside the bar hidden under standardized Ministry invisibility cloaks courtesy of the Weasley brothers and waited with baited breath for Draco to give them their orders to raid the pub.

Members from the Auror department and members from the Hit wizard department were currently being held under an uneasy truce and were all gathered today to nab the criminals charged with the sale of illegal potions, multiple murders, gambling and converting innocent people into werewolves forcing them to fight for their cause.

Draco raised his wand and was about to send up a flare signaling the beginning of the raid when a man cloaked in black flowing robes suddenly materialized on the roof of the pub holding a knobby staff in his hands crying out "Fools!" in a voice so cold and wintery that it made their bones rattle with the intensity of its strength.

Raising his arms he began whispering words of power and they watched spellbound as a single red-gold drop of liquid magic fell out of the end of his staff landing in the dead center of the building while the man himself laughed manically.

The drop spread uncontrollably sweeping down the walls of the building and enveloping the entire structure in a sudden blaze of flames pushing the Ministry members away from its burning heat and leaving them helpless as they watched the raging inferno eat away at the building and the screaming people inside of it disappearing almost as soon as it had come and leaving behind nothing but smoldering wood, crumbling ashes and the smell of charred flesh.

* * *

Please keep reviewing :)

Thank you scarsandsparkles, Antybioda, Carlie and LalalaSpacingInPandaLand


	11. Chapter 11

**DISCLAIMER: THE BOOK BELONGS TO J. I HAVE ONLY BORROWED BOTH CHARACTERS AND PLOTLINE.**

* * *

**(Warning: Chapter meant for mature readers only)**

**CHAPTER 11**

* * *

"And what will you do once we find the Resurrection Stone Albus?" Gellert Grindlewald who was lounging on the floor in Dumbledore's room while leafing through the well-worn pages of '_The Tales of Beedle the Bard'_ whispered softly to the other man who was lying on his back on the bed behind him.

Dumbledore remained silent for a long time before whispering back in a voice carrying so much pain that even self-absorbed Gellert flinched in discomfort "I…I would like to see Percival and Kendra just once…" his voice broke at the mere thought of being able to converse with his parents once again.

"The Master of Death" Gellert touched the words in the book reverently and sighed while Albus's eyes stayed fixed on his best friend's beautiful golden hair swallowing with difficulty when an unbidden image of him running his hands through it flashed across his mind.

When had respect and friendship become love? When had he, a powerful wizard by his own right, become so in tune with this man's feelings that he'd forgotten his own dreams instead embracing this person's ideologies as his own?

"Once we find the Hollows Albus, the world will be ours and the muggles who've tormented our kind for so long will finally come to understand that we are gods amongst them! No longer will we have to hide and tremble from persecution; instead it will soon be them who will have to bow down to us. All for the greater good right?"

Dumbledore felt a band of discomfort tighten around his chest as he heard the words but looking into the face of one whom he considered his soul-mate he nodded his acquiescence and shuddered involuntarily when Gellert turned to ruffle his hair playfully.

"You really do understand me don't you Albus?" He asked the smitten wizard with a smirk that bordered on condescension "I would not have been able to get this far without you, you know?" He flattered him, fully aware of Dumbledore's feelings for him since he'd recently spied on his thoughts with his newly acquired skill of _Legilimency_ ruthlessly using the knowledge to his advantage by playing him like a fine-tuned violin, one that would forever remain trapped in blind adoration.

"Thank you" Dumbledore smiled guilessly at the scheming future Dark Lord feelin happy for the first time since his mother had died.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore, current Headmaster of Hogwarts woke up from his memories sighing tiredly to himself. "Will I never be free of my guilt Ariana?" He called out to his sister in the dark who had haunted his every waking moment. "Gellert you stupid bastard, why did you ever come to Godric's Hollow, why were you so…"

He closed his startling blue eyes against the pain and calmed himself by breathing quietly for a minute before picking up his wand also known as the elder wand, one, of the three Deathly Hallows and caressed it absentmindedly.

He'd thought of destroying it when he'd won it from Gellert but the temptation of its power had been overwhelming and so in the end he convinced himself that he would only use it for good and took it to make it his own.

"Always so weak, so weak and gullible" he thought ruefully to himself "but soon…soon it will all come to an end" and he felt an all-encompassing warmth and boundless peace when he came to terms with the inevitable "soon…"

* * *

"_**I am truly sorry for the terrible tragedy that took place last night in the Magical side of East London" Minster of Magic Pius Thicknesse announced over the radio sorrowfully "but the fire that had started during the Ministry raid on the 'Hungry Wolf' pub was a casualty that none of us had foreseen. Rest assured, we have our expert Investigators looking into the matter as I speak."**_

"_**The purpose of the raid was to nab suspects from the recent killings and true to the investigations, some of the bodies that were recovered after the fire have been identified as the same criminals involved but the others I'm very unhappy to say were mere bystanders."**_

"_**Unfortunately more information about the case cannot be divulged as it is of a very sensitive nature so I beseech the public to remain patient for now for news of further development and ask that they help the innocent victim's families mourn for their great loss." **_

"Bastard's in his fucking element" Draco lamented when heard Pius's grating voice over the radio in Rufus Scrimgeour's office "he's only doing this to protect himself because when I'd told him about what happened last night he actually looked happy over the fact that nearly fifty people who were werewolves, vampires and god knows what other races were killed."

"You did a good job containing the panic Draco" Rufus acknowledged quietly in face of the other man's agitation "but now we're going to have to remain on our toes even more to make sure that we get to the bottom of this wizard arsonist business."

Harry who was standing beside Draco shivered involuntarily when he remembered that raw power and awe he'd felt when the fire had come and gone in an instant taking so many lives with it.

"I concur" Draco sighed "there's more to this case than we thought but now again we're left floundering without any leads to go forward with."

"Ah I fully commiserate with you" Rufus said when he heard the irritation in Draco's voice "but I think you guys are going to have to start from scratch again."

Nodding, Draco thanked the Head Auror for his time and he and Harry left the room as morosely as they'd come.

* * *

A week later found Harry walking down the corridors of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement clutching the latest reports from the Coroner's office wondering how to tell his mentor what he'd just heard.

Coming to stand in front of Draco's office he knocked on the door just once before entering the room and found the irresistible half-veela pouring over some scattered papers on his table with his hair arranged in a disturbingly sexy disarray that had Harry thinking of the last time they'd woken up in the same bed.

"Any good news?" Draco asked him standing up from his chair and coming round the table to lean on its surface with his arms crossed over chest, an apprehensive expression on his face.

"Nothing except that we now have concrete proof that the drug was being marketed and used" Harry shook his head despondently, cringing when he saw Draco's face fall in disappointment "Also the Coroner tried matching Fenrir's DNA with the bodies that we've recovered like you asked him to but none of them were a match."

"I figured" Draco shrugged "Someone's been playing spy in the Ministry and have kept the enemy well informed of our plans. Slimy bastard Greyback must have run with his tail between his legs the moment he heard that we were coming for him."

Both of them fell silent for a while after that when Harry finally managed to look at Draco and say "Sorry."

"For what?" Draco asked him feeling something come undone within him when he saw his apprentice looking so focused on him.

"You wanted to catch Fenrir so badly and end this stupid case but after the fire and that cloaked man and Thicknesse…"

He knew he was rambling again but couldn't seem to stop himself when to his utter shock he saw Draco lean in towards him and silence him soft kiss on his mouth!

"Shut up Potter" Draco said gruffly "You just keep going on and on I swear" he shook his head with some amusement while Harry stood frozen like a statue reeling from the sensations that that small touch had awoken in him.

"You…I…" he stammered uselessly turning his standard shade of red when Draco lifted one hand and casually pushed away the errant strands of hair on his forehead "Why?" he finally whispered trying to make sense of the universe.

"I'm attracted to you" Draco said simply, sitting down on the surface of the table behind him and pulling Harry closer to him with his legs, encircling him loosely in his arms while outrageously ignoring the bewilderment on his face.

"You literally come crashing into my life, wear a dress for me, let me to kiss you, go dancing together with you looking so fucking hot in tight leather pants, worry over me and I find myself greedily wanting more."

"I want to kiss you" he said softly looking slightly troubled by his own meanderings and wary at the impact his words might have had but broke into a stunning smile, releasing a ton of Veela pheromones in the bargain, when Harry closed the distance between them and kissed him back chastely.

Running his hands deliberately through the long dreamed of platinum blond hair, Harry gave in completely when Draco took charge and began dominating the kiss with his tongue sucking gently on his own pulling him close so that they were standing flush against one another so much so that Harry couldn't hide his growing erection anymore and found himself gripping Draco helplessly when the older man began to rub him gently over his robes with his thighs, smiling wickedly when Harry shuddered with want, letting go of all of his inhibitions in that one hazy moment.

"Harry I…" Draco pressed his mouth close to Harry's ear reveling in his submission when someone knocked on the door loudly breaking them apart immediately and drawing a hiss of frustration from Draco, who yanked the door open roughly once Harry was sitting behind his own table once again with his head in hands and eyes closed.

Seeing a slightly impatient looking Dawlish standing standing on the other side of the door, looking shaken up about something, Draco ungraciously asked him what the matter was and was surprised when the man pushed a newspaper into his hands saying "read it" before walking away with a wave.

Frowning down at the Daily Prophet, Draco's eye's widened with anger when his eyes fell on a paragraph bearing the heading '_**Ex-Chief Hit Wizard, Arnold Peasgoode, found dead at home' **_and crushed the paper saying "Fuck!"

* * *

Thank you Carlie for reviewing the story. That there are people who wait to read it makes me want to continue writing it even more :)

Thank you Dogsby for making this the exception :) but i must say you are a very astute person and really seem to get the characters!

Thank you LalalaSpacingInPandaLand oh how i wanted to torture you guys for longer (muahahah!) but fortunately for you the wait is over so enjoy!

Thank you guest 9/3/12 Love the reviews and keep em coming :)


	12. Chapter 12

**DISCLAIMER: THE BOOK BELONGS TO J. I HAVE ONLY BORROWED BOTH CHARACTERS AND PLOTLINE.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 12**

* * *

'_I'm probably the world's biggest, gutless, invertebrate_' Harry admonished himself while splashing cold, refreshing water on his sweaty face. His stomach was still a roiling, acidic mess after he'd heaved the entire contents of his morning breakfast into the toilet bowl behind him.

In his defense however, this was his first case of death by hanging and he had honestly not expected the bulging vacant eyes, the abnormal angle of the corpse's head and worst of all the sick stench of feces to affect him this much. It was embarrassing really when he realized that he had been the only one to react so dramatically to the scene while the others had remained so indifferent.

Grabbing a wad of tissues, he wiped his face clean and composed his features into an expressionless mask before walking out the door and steeling himself for his another glimpse of the broken body of one Mr. Arnold Peasgoode.

On re-entering the crime scene, he spotted Draco arguing with an equally livid Alastor Gumboil and immediately went over to them to give his superior any sort support that he might need.

"Look Gumboil" Draco snarled, throwing his hands up in frustration "I understand that you want your team to handle the case since he was one of yours, but he is also an important witness to our case and I'm not about to compromise like I did the last time."

"Mr. Malfoy" Gumboil clenched his fists stubbornly and shook his head "I will personally see that you receive all the reports from the coroner's office myself, but I will not have you messing up my investigation directly."

'_Uh-oh_' Harry sighed and took one furtive step away from his steaming boss, recognizing the stillness of his features as one of rage.

"Mr. Gumboil" Draco said coldly, towering over the man in front him who was trying hard to remain resolute in his decision "If you continue to disagree then I will have no choice Sir…" Draco warned him and pulled out a marble sized, misty sphere from within the folds of his robes and presented it to the man who eyed it with some trepidation.

"A pensive sphere" Alastor growled his eyebrows knitting together in anger "what the hell does it have in it?" he asked the impassive Auror before him.

"A memory of you willfully withholding information on my case" Draco said softly, bouncing the sphere on the palm of his hand carelessly "I'd asked you about Arnold Peasgoode about a month ago and you dismissed me on unprofessional grounds of inter office rivalry remember?"

Alastor paled visibly then and took a step away from Draco "Wha…what are you going to do with it?" He asked him fidgeting with his tie restlessly while Draco nodded to the still suspended body beside them and said "Nothing…" shrugging nonchalantly but continuing to stare at the Chief Hit Wizard with a rather calculating gleam in his eye.

"I will do nothing if only you give me your full cooperation. I want to be able to accompany the coroner when he examines the body and I want to have a look at the original suicide note which you guys have removed from the body and not a photograph, but the real thing itself."

"You…you can't do this" Gumboil sputtered "that's practically blackmail!"

"Or" Draco continued "You will be suspended and stripped of your title for disregarding the law."

There was a fraction of silence before "I see Rufus has taught you well" the defeated Gumboil spat bitterly. "Very well" he sighed and handed Draco a plastic container they both knew contained the original suicide note and the man's wand and said "two days. Two days is all you'll have and then you can bugger off." Draco nodded and took the case from him after pocketing the precious sphere and smiled sheepishly.

"I'm sorry I had to do this" he offered but Gumboil turned away angrily and said through gritted teeth "Peasgoode was an idol for the youngsters in our squad. For him to have died after revealing his numerous crimes is a massive blow to our esteem and it's not something we wish to air around the Department."

"I understand" Draco said quietly "I'll get this done quickly and then I'll be out of your hair alright?"

Nodding curtly, the Hit wizard gathered his squad members and they left the house all the while shooting puzzled glances between their boss and Draco with one their member's turning beet red when Draco raised an eyebrow at her forcing her to clutch her team-mate to prevent an embarrassing face plant.

* * *

Dracc stood in the sterile autopsy room replete with gloves and shoe covers while Marietta Edgecomb, assistant to the head Coroner passed her wand carefully over Arnold Peasgoode's body.

"No signs of any poisons or medication as such, but there are similar traces of that potion we found in those children during the werewolf investigation" she said finally, pushing up her glasses with the back of her hand.

"Nothing else?" Draco persisted but she shook her head "No" feeling almost responsible for making the gorgeous man look unhappy while he himself sighed in frustration. "What about glamour revealing charms then?" he asked her hopefully and watched her eyes widen behind her thick frames with a 'Crap I forgot' look and he clicked his tongue with irritation at her incompetence.

"Oh…um just give me five minutes" she said scrabbling around hastily casting multiple charms on the unmoving body once again. At first nothing happened but suddenly Peasgoode's entire body began to glow with a dull blue light until the magic suddenly started to coalesce over only certain parts of the body and began glowing brighter and brighter until it vanished all together.

Focusing on those spots only the two of them noted the numerous changes; hidden hesitation cuts over the man's wrists, a large ugly mole on his big toe and a strangely familiar tattoo of a circle divided in half by a serpent, coiled over a dark line with the whole thing embedded into a triangle that was drawn neatly on the inner side of his forearm.

"What on earth…" Draco murmured examining the last item closely and was surprised to find that it had an intricate, well thought out pattern and was really amazing work. "I'm going to want a couple photos of this, a blood sample, some DNA records of course and whatever else you can get me" he said briskly and stood up to rub his tired eyes after such a long day when the door opened to reveal Harry carrying the plastic case Gumboil had reluctantly given them.

"The note was definitely written by him" Harry announced nodding to the pale corpse "And it's been attached to a fairly long list of the Peasegoode's misdemeanors, also in his own handwriting which the Hit wizards have already started investigating and have promised to give us a glimpse off. No foreign scents or fingerprints or anything weird with the paper or ink however and the '_Priori Incantato_' we did with the wand showed us nothing suspicious. Last spell used was the one to tighten the noose."

"Right" Draco nodded handing the case over to Edgecomb for safekeeping before instructing her to return it to Gumboil first thing in the morning and then pulled Harry out of the claustrophobic room with him after thanking her.

* * *

"So what do you think?" Draco asked Harry after they'd cleaned up and left the Ministry via the Floo in the atrium.

"Somehow I still don't see the bloke dying by his own hands" Harry said enjoying the cool evening breeze as they walked over to Draco's bike. "He seemed too afraid of punishment or dying when we spoke to him the last time and the number of hesitation cuts that you told me about seems like he wasn't ever going to have the balls to do it."

"Hmm…you're right. I've also been thinking that the maybe the poor sod's been pushed into it this time. It's definitely no mere coincidence since it's too close to the 'Hungry wolf' massacre. And knowing what we know about him…"

"Oh yeah I almost forgot" Harry hit his head "There's something I didn't want to tell you in front of Marietta but in the list he'd written alongside the note there was no mention of Fenrir Greyback at all."

"I think we just lost a very important witness" Draco groaned "This all so very fucked up and is being orchestrated by some genius mastermind who's always managed to stay one step ahead of us."

"Yeah" Harry said and came to a stand-still when they finally reached the fiery red speedster which was glowing in evening light.

"I'm going to go and report this to Rufus right now" Draco said while searching for his helmet "if you want to tag along you're welcome to" he smiled, but Harry having been wrung out with day's events declined the offer politely and stood aside waiting for his mentor to ride off into the sunset when Draco turned towards him abruptly and tugged him closer without any warning, mindless of the many muggles that were strolling on the street beside them.

His grey eyes darkened imperceptibly and he experienced the strangest sensation of proprietorship when Harry came willingly to stand almost nose to nose before him and he said softly, almost gently, making him shudder in remembrance of the morning's hot kiss "I have not forgotten about today but if you've changed your mind then…" Harry shook his head in negation anxiously and Draco felt relief course through him. Ruffling his hair affectionately he wished him a goodnight before kissing him lightly on the side of his mouth and letting him go slowly.

"Uh—huh you too" Harry mumbled in response, flushed with desire and stood watching forlornly as he zoomed off into the darkening night.

* * *

Standing in front of Ron's home, Harry knocked on the door and smiled happily when he saw his best bud standing opposite him looking hale and hearty once again. After deliberating on whether he wanted to spend the night in his house alone, Harry had chosen to stay with his closest friends instead and had grabbed a carton of pumpkin juice and three BLT's from nearest cafe before disapparating to their home.

"Grub!" Ron's face lit up on spotting the package in Harry's hands but on recognizing the pumpkin juice amongst his other purchases, he began whispering rather frantically in a hushed but forceful voice, ordering the uncomprehending Harry to get rid of it, when Hermione, pregnant belly and all joined them at the entrance.

"Harry!" she smiled glowing with happiness but quick as a flash when she'd eyed the pumpkin juice in Ron's hand her face suddenly became dark and foreboding making both men take two steps away from her.

"Her…Hermione?" Harry called out to her softly but she suddenly whipped her head up towards them and said menacingly "Pumpkin juice?"

"Um…" Harry said looking to Ron for help but found only commiseration instead.

"If anyone...anyone, gives me one more carton of this nasty drink, I'm going to murder them!" She vowed glaring at at the box like it was poisonous.

"W…why?" Harry asked her tentatively while Ron shook his head frantically.

"Because everyone; Every. Single. Person that I meet offers me only pumpkin juice and now I have amassed over twenty unopened cartons of it at home when all I really want is butterbeer " she declared, advancing towards Harry who shrunk back towards the door with real fear. "I want firewhiskey or gin or wine or anything other than milk and fucking pumpkin juice!"

"Um…no...no foul language" Ron said with his usual insensibility "Remember the baby…"

"You…" Hermione said now rounding on her quaking husband and Harry with a stroke of absolute genius stuck the bag containing the BLT's in her face and saw with relief that her anger had subsided completely. "I love you" she whispered looking at Harry with large weepy eyes and clutched the precious bag close to her bosom leaving the two of them to recover from their fright while she plonked down on her couch to attack the sandwiches ravenously.

"She's…she's scary" Harry whispered to Ron who nodded glumly "Totally mate! I keep thinking that she's gonna murder me in my sleep one these days" he said while Harry patted his shoulder understandingly.

"So Harry how's work?" Hermione said once they'd joined her in the living room "How's your mentor?" she asked him coyly and Harry couldn't help but blush from the obvious hidden meaning but just smiled saying that it was okay, not yet ready to disclose the details of his very trying love life.

In his mind however, he reminisced the kiss that they'd shared this morning only and he squirmed uncomfortably when he remembered how aroused he'd been when they'd broken apart so abruptly. He'd had to sit cross legged on his chair while fighting off embarrassment and trying hard not hump the table leg out sheer desperation. No, it had not ended well indeed!

"So you working under the Malfoy dude then?" Ron asked him curiously and hormone overloaded Hermione guffawed at the double entendre. Rolling his eyes wife's insipid sense of humor he said "I've met the bloke a couple of times myself but I just can't figure out what's so great about him you know?" He sniffed rather snottily while Harry and Hermione shared a brief look between them that left them feeling rather hot and bothered.

"Um I heard you guys were looking to expand 'The Wizarding Wheezes' in Hogsmaede" Harry said hurriedly to change the topic "How's that working out for you?"

"Not so good" Ron admitted, looking sadly at the sandwiches his wife had monopolized "We've been trying to get old Aberforth to sell Hog's head since he barely gets any customers anyway but the man's so bloody stubborn" he grimaced.

Thinking about the decrepit pub with some fondness, Harry privately thought that the place had become a part of Hogmaede's history and didn't really want to see it disappear. He even felt a tiny bit of affection for it's surly owner and was thinking about their last meeting when he sat up with a shock of sudden realization and stared at the other two in consternation 'Of course! So stupid!'

"Harry you okay mate?" Ron asked him quizzically, wondering what had suddenly struck his fancy but Harry simply smiled and waved him on to continue with what he was saying when Hermione struggling to swallow a large bite of her food cut in with a thick voice "You coming for Ginny's engagement this weekend then?"

"What engagement?" Harry asked her nonplussed while Ron turned a bright scarlet color and darted up the stairs before Hermione could turn her incredulous eyes towards him and screech "You forgot?!"

Coming back down with a slim invitation Ron carefully avoided Hermione's disapproving gaze and handed the card to Harry with a happy smile. "I totally forgot to give this to you and if my sister ever finds out I'm dead but just so you know, Gin's getting engaged to Dean this weekend!" He beamed proudly at Harry whose mouth fell open and he began smirking.

"Wow! Dean must be over the moon since Ginny's been avoiding discussing the wedding for ages now!"

"Yeah, but last month was the last playing season for the Holy Head Harpies this year so she's found some free time at last" Hermione giggled "Believe me, the two of them have been acting like giddy children over this news."

"Good for them" Harry leaned back against his chair and smiled "And yes duh! Of course I'll be coming! Wild horses wouldn't keep me away!"

"Oh and Harry, you can bring a guest with you if you want" Hermione slyly said looking meaningfully at him and then backed away laughing when Harry swatted her with his invite.

* * *

"You called?" Harry asked entering Draco's office and felt almost lightheaded when he looked up at him with a warm smile.

"Yeah we've just made some significant progress with this case of ours" he said and held the photograph of Peasgoode's tattoo out to him.

Taking it from him Harry stared down at the symbol wondering where he'd seen it before when Draco answered his confusion "Rufus figured it out" he said smiling triumphantly "the triangle, circle and staff is the symbol for an underground wizarding cult that believes in the existence of the Deathly Hallows…"

"The fairytale?" Harry asked in surprise.

"The very same" Draco nodded in agreement "But there is another more sinister meaning to that symbol as well" he said losing a bit of his confidence "Does the name Gellert Grindlewald ring any bells?"

"Oh my god!" Harry paled bringing up the photo closer to his eyes "Do you think it's him?"

"No, not really "Draco shrugged "Numenguard remains safe so I don't really see how it could be him."

"Then…"

"The snake on the symbol probably indicates that someone else is trying to mimic him and though that's not very heartening to listen to either it's still better than Grindlewald himself."

"Yeah" Harry breathed and remembered the important discovery he had to tell him about. "I think I might have found us another lead for our case" he said with some trepidation hoping that his idea wouldn't spurned immediately.

"Go ahead" Draco said looking interested.

"I suddenly remembered what Aberforth told us in the Hog's head pub the other day" he explained "and I realized that there is actually one other person who's seen the man involved with this drug business" he said and Draco's face lit up with realization. "Mundungus Fletcher" Harry said simply and Draco grinned like a maniac.

"Genius!" He whispered and Harry grinned back happily at him while Draco immediately dove into the papers on his table to gather enough information to go after the rogue all the while keeping up a steady rant about his brain cracking with too much work.

'_I'd better ask him now and get over with it_' Harry thought looking down at his bent head shiftily while shuffling his feet with discomfort when Draco noting that he was still standing in front of him and put his quill down looking up with an inquisitive look on his face.

"Any other brilliant theories you might want to drop on my head?" he teased and Harry feeling the tell-tale reddening of his ears said "DoyouwannagotoGinny'sengagementwithme?"

"What?" Draco asked him not understanding a word.

Swallowing loudly, Harry cleared his throat and looking somewhere next to Draco's head said "Ginny Weasley's engagement's coming up this weekend and I was wondering if you'd like to go with me since you've been moaning about taking a break anyway" he said and got ready to bolt out the door if Draco showed any signs of sniggering at his invitation.

Studying him with an intense scrutiny that left Harry feeling on tenterhooks he said "What? Come with you as your date?" and grinned knowingly at him thoroughly reveling in his flustered appearance.

"N—no" Harry stammered "I mean like…coz you said you were bored so I…"

"Free food, drinks and dancing" Draco said leaning back against his chair looking irritatingly relaxed now "Sounds good to me" he shrugged and then "I'll be there of course."

"Right…thank you" Harry said and having expended all his energy on making the request, nodded and literally ran out of the room.

* * *

Guest 9/3/12 Yup Draco's totally into Harry right now : )

LalalaSpacingInPandaLand being used to Draco by now the Harry will probably manage...hopefully!

dogsby and the drama will probably increase tenfold in the next chapter. Thank you : )

GhostGypsy I love when that happens to me too! the whole life...box...chocolate thing never gets old does it?

Carlie Thank you for that! I guess this is where Draco grows into his true nature and I just hope that it gets better :)

mochiusagi yes i'm very irritating like that aren't i (hehehe!) ? but the next chappie should be pretty promising i think!

Meany Thank you meany :) But i must say that your name doesn't suit you at all since you've just said very nice things about the story! Thank you :)

Sen2TOS9 I would like to think so too! Thank you :)


	13. Chapter 13

**DISCLAIMER: THE BOOK BELONGS TO J. I HAVE ONLY BORROWED BOTH CHARACTERS AND PLOTLINE.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 13**

* * *

**WARNING: Mature Content!**

* * *

"Have you no fear man?" Hermione asked Harry wonderingly, looking very pretty in a rather stunning set of mauve dress robes.

"Oh stop being so cryptic _wench _and tell me what you mean already" Harry countered her sage like expression of disapproval with raised eyebrows all the while looking like quite the dapper gentleman himself.

"Well…you went and brought _that _to the engagement" she pointed rudely at Draco who was laughing at something the twins had said "and now he's gone and stolen Gin's thunder."

"_Women!_" Harry shuddered visibly and took a calming sip of the rather expensive elven wine in his hand.

His date had indeed garnered the stares of many men and women alike that evening but that was not to be helped since his appearance _had_ spoken of fallen angels. Nevertheless, Harry was clear headed enough to recognize that even he Draco, had not managed to upstage the newly engaged couple who were practically glowing in their happiness.

"So where's the hubby anyway?" Harry craned his neck trying to spot Ron in the crowd.

"Stupid git's gone off to ogle at some wooden gargoyle, handcrafted by an Amazonian wizarding tribe that Luna's gone and gifted to Ginny as an engagement present."

"G—gargoyle!" Harry sputtered in a poor attempt to hide his laughter.

"Yeah" Hermione giggled "A bonafide, beastly looking gargoyle, which supposedly, bestows greater fertility and endurance to married couples."

"Remind me" Harry finally spotted a red faced Ron who appeared to be sniggering at a brown, misshapen lump "What exactly does Luna do again?"

"She's a naturalist" Hermione said, sighing when she saw her puerile husband begging for a photograph with monstrosity.

"Good on her" Harry smiled when he saw the wispy witch dancing with a man he'd never seen before.

The music changed to an upbeat number from the Hobgoblins that Harry vaguely remembered from somewhere when he suddenly found Draco standing in front of him with a small, mischievous smile on his face.

"Would you mind my stealing Harry from you for this dance?" He asked Hermione who stared back at him speechlessly and wide-eyed when Harry took pity on her and accepted the proffered hand in his own, patting Hermione kindly on the arm before walking away with Draco towards the middle of crowded dance floor.

"Remember the last time we heard this little number?" Draco bent his head to whisper in Harry's ear.

"How could I forget" Harry snorted "We were two steps away from death in the Hungry Wolf's Pub."

"Yeah" Draco pulled him closer while pointedly ignoring the loud cat calls all around them "You were so fucking hot that night!"

'_Swooning is what maidens do_' Harry reasoned with his weakened knees '_and I'm not some goddamn maiden now, am I?'_

"You two look so wonderful together!" Lily suddenly appeared out of nowhere to stand next them with a rather exuberant James in tow. Both his parents were also happily grooving to the rather fast paced music. "Come for home for dinner sometime" she urged Draco while Harry rolled his eyes at her display of motherliness but felt warm when Draco responded by saying "Sure, whenever is convenient for you guys."

Tired after three consecutive dance numbers, Draco went off to get them some drinks when a rather drunk Seamus Finnegan came tottering over to where Harry was standing.

"Bloody 'ell Potter" his Irish brogue was very pronounced because of the alcohol. "Ish been a while eh?"

"Seamus gerroff" Harry tried valiantly not to gag from all the fumes and pushed away the heavy lout who was Mr. Grabby Hands while he tried to plant a wet, soppy one on him.

"Bu' I missss ya" Seamus the glutton for punishment renewed his advances while Harry felt overcome with embarrassment.

"We were never together" he hissed, taking a giant step away from him which seemed to detour him from his plans for only about a second. "We had been going around for barely a week when I found out that you'd been possessed by the spirit of bloody Casanova you fucktard!"

"Is everything here alright?" Draco was suddenly hovering over Harry who flushed pink in shame.

"Nothing" he ducked his head "Just Seamus being an utter prat like always" he was about to turn away when Seamus suddenly poked Draco on his chest and said "You've got your work cut out for you mate" he chuckled meanly "Harry's a looker no doubt 'bout tha, but he's a cold fish!"

Draco looked at him with some measure of disgust before he stunned him and noticed gleefully that no one from the crowd had stopped him. After nodding to the Potters and Hermione he took off after Harry who'd managed to make a sly escape from the little scene quite adroitly.

He was standing behind the house in a corner completely hidden in shadows when Draco found him but instead of looking angry he smiled calmly at him and lay his head on Draco's chest sighing contentedly.

"I can't believe that you'd ever deigned to go out with that asshat" Draco kissed him once, twice "he's a complete moron for chrissakes!"

"Which is why I dumped him on the third day" Harry laughed but cringed when he remembered just how sick he'd felt after he'd discovered Seamus's infidelity all those years ago.

Looking into those absinthe greens now that were staring trustingly into his own eyes, Draco felt his control slip and he gave Harry the smallest nip over his collar bone before whispering a hoarse "I want you so badly!"

Harry nodded and shut his eyes to hide the embarrassment when Draco suddenly knelt at his feet and began undoing the belt and zip of his formal pants.

"What if others…" Harry protested feebly.

"I've warded the area" he whispered, his words were punctuated between feverish kisses that he bestowed over Harry's firm abdomen, repeating the words "I want you" again but a little more forcefully this time, enjoying the sensation of Harry gently carding trembling fingers through his fine, platinum blond hair as a sign of his approval and smiled knowingly when he felt him shiver against the cool wind that was caressing his heated, naked flesh, lost from the very moment that he'd felt Draco's touch on him.

They made no sound except for the barely audible huffs or grunts but when he felt the half veela's mouth on him, Harry's grip became tighter unconsciously and he began panting like a mindless animal.

Hot, moist and so wonderfully skilled, Draco tongued and sucked him relentlessly until Harry was soundlessly digging his nails into Draco's shoulders, overcome with sensation when he came with a drawn out, sated groan, protesting only mildly when he found his legs being lifted off of the ground and placed around the safety of Draco's hips clinging bonelessly to the other man while accepting all of his drugging kisses with a fervor that matched his own.

Draco was feeling terribly unsure of himself. He had been furious with Finnegan only minutes ago for having slobbered over what was his. But those thoughts had taken a backseat when he'd held Harry in this dark, private corner of the world.

He'd lost whatever semblance of control that he'd possessed from the smallest of kisses from this man and all he wanted to do now, was to ravage, to take and take and he was feeling completely out of his element in that moment.

He was used to seducing his partners. Wining and dining and all that jazz that his parents had drilled into him since childhood. So this raw need, this terrible desire and possessiveness was completely new to him and never in his whole frivolous life had he felt so strongly about another person!

Kissing Harry's sweaty temple, he tucked his head carefully into the crook of his own neck before apparating the both of them back to his apartment, all other explanations to the waiting guests be damned!

* * *

"This is absolutely sumptuous Mr. Potter!" Mrs. Malfoy said as she bit into another dainty, buttery scone.

"Um…thank you Narcissa (She had insisted on being called that)" Harry had still not yet quite recovered from the shock of Draco's mother barging into her son's bedroom so early in the morning without any preamble whatsoever looking thoroughly coiffed with her twinset pearls and a familiar evil smirk when she caught them sleeping together in a tangle of arms and legs.

"Well then… I'm uh, going to the Ministry to check up on some stuff and maybe give the two of you some alone time so…" he got up from the table to wash his plate and mug "It was really nice meeting you Narcissa and I'm really sorry that you um…" his face turned a ghastly shade of red which made Narcissa smile benignly before she turned to her son and mouthed "So darling!"

"You must bring him to the manor someday" she spoke this to Draco who gave her a vague nod but she continued speaking as if she hadn't yet noticed his apathy "I absolutely insist!"

Harry waved goodbye wanting to escape possible family drama and was about to enter the furnace when Draco pulled him back suddenly for a thorough snog before letting him go with opposing feelings of disorientation, happiness and chagrin muttering something that sounded uncannily similar to 'Bastard!' and left the room in a tizzy.

"Potter's son huh" Mrs. Malfoy dusted her dress for fallen crumbles "You're certainly doing your best to rile up your father, aren't you?"

"If you're suggesting that I'm only using Harry mother, then rest assured, because I am most certainly not. Leave him out of our problems since he has nothing to do with them" Draco's voice to an outsider would have seemed complacent but his mother understood the warning in it all too well.

"No. I like him too" She quickly reiterated "Met him during some of the parties and he's an absolute gem!"

"Mother _why_ are you here?" Draco was quickly tiring of the gossip and he needed to get to work as well or Rufus was seriously going to fire him.

"I want you to talk to your Godfather" she finally said after some contemplative silence.

"Uncle Sev? Why? What happened now?"

"He's been moping around the place and thinking about resigning from Hogwarts" she tried to make it sound uninteresting but was failing miserably.

"Your father seems to think that it's his idea of a mid-life crisis and that he needs to find a girlfriend but Sev told me that he's been worried sick because the Headmaster's been off color for quite some time now."

"You mean Uncle Sev thinks that old Dumbles is about to kick the proverbial…"

"Draco!"

"Right ho!"

"Just go and reason with him" Narcissa frowned at him impatiently "The man loves his job and Hogwarts no matter how much he complains and he'll become miserable without it."

"Isn't he already?" Draco snapped and hen looked contrite when he saw the stricken look on his mother's face "Oh for…listen to me mum" he sighed rubbing his tired eyes "The man's been pining after Lily Potter since his schooldays so I don't think that he's ever going change. I've tried helping him, even set him up on a blind date once which he did not even attend and instead ended up sending me a pile of doxy dropping via the owl post for all of my efforts! He's old enough to look after himself and he can do what he wants in his life."

"Ah! So he's still after her then, is he?" Narcissa fell against her chair in defeat. "The man's so bloody obstinate that I think it's time that someone finally intervened and spoke to Lily about all this."

"So what was that about Dumbledore?"

"The man's old" Narcissa looked forlorn somehow. "I mean even though your father absolutely abhors the man, his death would feel like the end of some glorious era. He will always be known as the greatest wizard of all time and his powerful charisma will be remembered for eons to come."

"That is high praise coming from you mum!" Draco looked at her in surprise but she only nodded absently and he left her to go and get ready for the day's work.

* * *

Caractacus Burke was conflicted. On one hand he owed the Malfoy family a lot for they continued patronage but on the other hand Mundungus had proven himself to be quite the useful sort for acquiring all sorts of magical objects for the shop.

Now, looking up at the handsome offspring of his best customer he shook his head with indecision and pleaded with the man to let it go "I really can't tell you much about it Mr. Malfoy" Burke fidgeted with his chipped fingernails "Mundungus choses to come and go whenever he pleases."

"Don't lie to Mr. Burke" Draco growled his eyes flashing threateningly. "I'm sure that your expecting some haul this week and I just want you to tell when."

"But…"

"He will not come to harm" Draco tapped the glass of the showcase "We want to bring him in for questioning but that's it" he promised "Unless, unless he's gone and done something illegal?"

He looked down at the shop owner with sharp gaze but the owner immediately held out his hand in denial "None that I know off Mr. Malfoy!"

"Then you must cooperate with the Ministry or you'll find yourself being locked up for deliberately harboring a witness."

"Ne—next Tuesday" Burke shook in fear "He'll be here next Tuesday any time after 7'O clock in the evening."

"See? That wasn't so hard now was it?" Draco patted him on the shoulder and left the shop when Harry suddenly materialized next to him under the invisibility cloak. "Nothing" he said folding it back into a pocket-able size "The bugger's got nothing incriminating in his shop, I mean apart from all the other dark art stuff" he corrected himself.

"Didn't really expect that he would" Draco shrugged. "The man's scared of his own shadow and would never do anything that would jeopardize his shop."

"So, it's Tuesday then?" Harry smiled.

"Yup" Draco smirked "when Tuesday comes, we'll definitely nab that slippery rat bastard."

* * *

It was easy to see why Mundungus escaped time and again from the law so easily. His short stature and straggly ginger hair did nothing to enhance his features and he was so filthy that he actually managed to blend in quite well with the dirty walls of Knockturn Alley itself.

He had just come out of Borgan and Burke's when Draco tapped him on the shoulder from him behind with a friendly "Evening" startling the poor sod out of his wits.

"M—Mr. Malfoy?" He stammered looking around for an escape route when he came to the nasty realization that he'd been blocked off completely by Harry on the other side.

"You'd best give up running away this time Fletcher" Draco warned him and it looked like Mundungus was about to agree when he suddenly pulled out his wand from some hidden recess in the sleeve of his robes and was in the process of disapparating when Draco grabbed one of his fingers and pulled but it was to no avail as the man vanished anyway but splinched himself sacrificing his finger for freedom.

"Quickly Harry!" Draco held on to the finger, urging Harry to the same "The Ministry usually uses splinched body parts like a portkey to get to where the owner's apparated off to so that we can help them restore it but now we're going to use it to catch the stupid plonker before he gets away."

Draco landed gracefully on his feet while Harry stumbled and fell on his backside and he waved Draco to go ahead saying that he'd catch up to them.

Draco took off after the squat bugger, who was weaving in and out of shops, barreling ruthlessly into people walking in front of him and generally dodging every single one of Draco spells while Draco himself was finding it difficult to keep up and couldn't use much magic in case he ended up hurting the others.

Suddenly Fletcher stopped and it looked like he was going to apparate again when Harry suddenly appeared out of thin air in front of him and slammed his fists into the man's solar plexus knocking the wind out him while Draco produced a ring of fire around him that would prevent his escape and cordoned him off from the rest of shouting crowd.

"You can't take me back to Azkaban" Mundungus was frantic now, clutching his bleeding hand in a tight grip. "I ain't done nuthin wrong this time so this is kidnappin. Thas it! I am been kid…"

"Shut it! You sniveling toad and listen" Draco decreased the radius of the ring around the man frightening him even more "We're just taking you in for some question and if you're good we'll let you go alright?"

"No Azkaban?" Mundungus immediately calmed down. His histrionics a seeming act "No soul sucking Dementors?"

"No. I promise" Draco held up his hand "If you keep up the end of your bargain or…" the ring became smaller and Fletcher squealed like a stuck pig "or else you'll be held for all your numerous crimes in the past."

"I'll come" the tiny man begged "I'll come so no…no Azkaban" he gulped fearfully and Draco nodded banishing the ring of fire but keeping a firm hold over the man himself.

"Any talk of escape and you're a goner, you understand?"

"Yesiree!" The man mock saluted them before following them quietly back to the Ministry ignoring all the whispers and gasps from the people on the sidelines.

* * *

_Dear Albus,_

_It is I Oblanski, Minister of Bulgaria writing to inform you of some very disturbing developments that will most definitely grab your utmost attention. I fear that the wards around Nurmenguard are weakening! _

_I have no absolute proof of it as yet but his mark was seen in the sky above the prison hold not two days ago, the sign of the Deathly Hallows! None of us can explain its sudden appearance and I begin to fear the worst, Grindleward is trying to escape!_

_It would be best if you yourself could make the trip to examine it but I will not coerce you into coming and will leave that decision up to your conscience. Take care, old friend._

_Thanking you,_

_Oblanski._

* * *

_In response to your previous letter Minister, I am very sorry to be the one to inform you that Dumbledore is no longer the man that he once was. His health has begun to fail him but whether it is directly linked to prisons I cannot say. _

_He will try to be there with you as soon as possible but asks that you place a few wards of your own around it the meantime._

_Your Loyal Servant,_

_Severus Snape,_

_Potions Master of Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardry._

* * *

_mochiusagi Hmmm maybe...maybe not ;) I hope you like the date a little. Had a tough time coming up with something!  
_

Guest 9/22/12 Thank you. I wasn't able to reconcile with so many deaths in the seventh book so I revived 'em all he he!

Meany Love ya too :)

LalalaSpacingInPandaLand Yup there will be times when even Draco the veela will find himself giving in more and more to Harry :)


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